“We’ll want to tell these stories in a completely different way with completely different people in a completely different setting that’s going to make for a fundamentally different show,” Robert Kirkman said of the differences between Fear the Walking Dead and its parent series, The Walking Dead, two years ago.
However, now that Fear The Walking Dead has established itself as a completely different show, Kirkman is ready to shake things up again. “I don’t want to spoil anything story-wise,” Kirkman tells Entertainment Weekly. “But we are changing things a great deal. It’s going to be a much different show.”
This could be a great or bad idea, depending on how AMC decides to change the show. That said, Kirkamn says the earlier seasons were a prequel to the show. “Having season 3 be a very fast-paced season that introduces a lot of new elements, it kind of shakes things up quite a bit and is a great appetizer to what we have planned for season 4, which is really going to ramp that up quite a bit.”
Those changes include a new creative team. In addition, Scott Gimple, who was promoted to be the showrunner of The Walking Dead, will have a new job of mixing elements of both shows together.
“When we started Fear the Walking Dead, the original idea actually included some things that would eventually tie in with the other show,” says Kirkman. “We wanted to give it a few seasons to find its sea legs, so to speak, and make sure that it stood on its own and provided its own experience. The goal was that eventually, once we had established that, we would find some kind of creative way to tie things in.”
The first step includes tying in Lennie James’ character, Morgan Jones, into Fear The Walking Dead, which will require a major time jump.
Despite all of these changes, do not expect a crossover anytime son. “Were they to encounter each other, Negan would probably kill [Madison]. Or maybe she’d kill Negan. I don’t know. There are options. They’ll probably never meet. And she’s not Alpha,” Kirkman said at a comic book convention.
Fear The Walking Dead is also adding several new cast members including Maggie Grace, Jenna Elfman, Kevin Zegers, Evan Gamble, and Garret Dillahunt, to go along with returning cast members Kim Dickens, Frank Dillane, Danay Garcia, Alycia Debnam-Carey, and Colman Domingo.
The new cast members and creative team illustrates a major change for the show. However, existing fans should not be too worried. Kirkman explains the new changes are “not going to alienate any viewers that have been enjoying the show from season 1 to 3.” Rather, the creative team “will give those people new things to love, and new characters to latch onto. It’s really going to shake things up.”
