Fear the Walking Dead – Showrunner Dave Erickson Reveals New Details
“Fear the Walking Dead” is shambling at us in a hurry, and today showrunner Dave Erickson has revealed some new details regarding the AMC spinoff to hungry fans via THR.
Will it be a prequel?
“We are loosely covering the period of time that [The Walking Dead’s] Rick (Andrew Lincoln) was in his coma in season one. We’re able to watch and experience the things that he missed. It’s more of a parallel story than a prequel; imagine the opening where Rick gets shot and goes in his coma — that day was probably very close to our day one. We’re playing out the idea of what was going on in the country and the world until he woke up, stepped outside, and it’s ‘Welcome to the apocalypse.’ That’s why a ‘companion piece’ has been the phrase used at the network. It’s not a prequel in the sense of ‘Better Call Saul,’ where we’re jumping back six, seven years. It does tie very specifically into the pilot of the original. ‘Prequel’ is not the right word; it’s kind of its own strange, hybrid thing. I wish I had a better word.”
Will we be revisiting the CDC (and “Walking Dead” first season character Dr. Edwin Jenner, who ultimately revealed to Rick the truth about the deadly virus)?
“I won’t say that we would never go there, but as it was scripted originally, that was really a means to writing some connective tissue for the fans. Robert very poignantly said that he likes to avoid the CDC perspective, the FEMA perspective, at least moving forward. It’s something I agree with; we’ll never tell the story from the perspective of the bureaucrats, politicians, and generals who are all trying to contain it. It will always be from the ground level looking up. There’s something far more overwhelming and beautiful about your next-door neighbor and people you know trying to understand the apocalypse. It’s really quite daunting.”
Related Story: First Look Video from the Set of Fear the Walking Dead
Will there be any crossover with “The Walking Dead’s” characters, and is there a possibility to see any of that show’s survivors – who have passed – alive again?
“Variations of this question have come up before, and there’s no current plan. I think logistically, it would be very difficult. There’s no plan for a crossover. I never considered seeing that in some way, shape, or form; that show has been going on for five years since the original outbreak, and we’re just in the infancy [of the outbreak]. There are no plans to do so, but I do think that’s a world that could be explored at some point. There are no plans for them to conflate, but I will say this: We are living under the same mythological umbrella. We are telling, ultimately, two parts of the larger story in this world that Robert has created. From a storytelling standpoint, I like the idea of conflating stories; I like the idea of things coming together. If that were ever to happen, it would not be for seasons to come, and there’s no current plan to do so. But I do think there’s something compelling and interesting about it, too.”
How many seasons can we expect of “Fear the Walking Dead?”
“About five or six. The more we dig into it, the more we’ll find. The original show is at least another few seasons based on the material that Robert has written for the comic already, and that serves as a guiding light. I like endings, and — I haven’t discussed this with Robert, but I think it’s more of a question for us to discuss when we sit down and really start breaking season two — on ‘Sons [of Anarchy]’, Kurt Sutter had a certain number in his head. He knew there was a certain number of seasons that felt right to him. I don’t have a specific set number of seasons in my head right now. I do think that the burden at a certain point, when you cross that 10-year mark … it can be pretty challenging. I’ve got some mile markers, which don’t take me that long as of yet, but I can’t really say because it’s an AMC question.”
Click here for the full interview.
“Fear the Walking Dead” premieres this summer on AMC. The main cast includes Cliff Curtis, Kim Dickens, Alycia Debnam Carey, Mercedes Mason, and Frank Dillane.
The new series will be set in Los Angeles and focuses on new characters and storylines. The show’s first season will consist of six one-hour episodes. The second season will air in 2016.
Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero, and David Alpert from “The Walking Dead” are executive producers of the new series, which, like the original, is being produced by AMC Studios. Dave Erickson (“Marco Polo,” “Sons of Anarchy”), who co-created and co-wrote the pilot with Kirkman, is an executive producer and showrunner.
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