Here’s the Real Reason Morgan Moved to ‘Fear The Walking Dead’

Lennie James’ Morgan was moved from The Walking Dead to spinoff Fear The Walking Dead because there was a trajectory for the character executive producer Scott Gimple didn’t want to “shoehorn” into the flagship series.

“The conversation I did have with Scott when [the crossover] was first proposed is that there were things that he wanted to explore with Morgan that would be difficult to shoehorn into The Walking Dead,” James told ScreenRant.

“And he thought that because of the smaller cast and the way that the stories are told on Fear that there would be a little more room for it,” James added.

James offered a similar explanation last weekend during an appearance at Comic Con Honolulu, where the actor said Gimple, since promoted to Chief Content Officer for all things Walking Dead, approached with the idea to explore Morgan outside of The Walking Dead — in the less-crowded territory of the spinoff.

“It was a way of exploring the character on a speed and a level that isn’t possible on The Walking Dead, because there’s so many characters. And it was an opportunity to get a little bit more Morgan-focused in a way that could happen on The Walking Dead, but it would’ve just taken a lot longer,” James said.

“And I’m not sure that they could hold onto Morgan in the way that they wanted to hold onto Morgan in the main show, and Fear was a way of exploring him a little bit more before he finishes,” he continued.

Morgan has since declared his intentions to return to Alexandria, Virginia, and reconnect with Rick Grimes, but the character may never make it back to The Walking Dead.

“He may say that he’s going back to Alexandria, but the journey to get there is going to be filled with a lot of unexpected turns. We look forward to hearing how people react to that journey,” co-showrunner Ian Goldberg told EW.

While he’s spiritually strong and level-headed at the moment, the San Diego Comic-Con trailer teased Morgan could soon slide back into his old ways: Morgan is seen peering into a mirror with his famous adage, “I lose people, I lose myself,” scrawled across his forehead.

His separation from his newfound group, including allies John Dorie (Garret Dillahunt) and Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), on his lonely trek back toward Virginia could be responsible for Morgan losing his grip — or the backtrack could be tied to the mysterious new characters Morgan will encounter on his journey.

Fear The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.