‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Star Explains Why ‘The Walking Dead’ Merger Is Unlikely

Fear the Walking Dead star Jenna Elfman believes the expansive cast of The Walking Dead makes a merger between the two series unlikely.

“Well, I think if you merge the two shows, then you only have one show,” the June actress said at Fan Fest San Jose.

“And I think that you can’t have one show with like [that many characters] — you’d have so many actors, you guys would be waiting weeks for a second scene between characters you love. So I don’t know that becoming one show would even be what you guys would want, because it’s too much. You can’t put that much into an hour.”

Elfman pointed to Walking Dead showrunner-turned-chief content officer Scott Gimple’s plan to expand the blossoming universe through films, specials, series, and digital content, which the Fear executive producer announced live on Talking Dead immediately following Rick Grimes star Andrew Lincoln’s departure from the mothership series.

“Scott came over and became [officer] over all of content for Walking Dead. He was running The Walking Dead and now he’s [seeing] over the whole thing. And that means additional content, like he announced on Talking Dead after Andy’s exit,” Elfman said.

“So I think with that being said, bringing Morgan over… there’s just aesthetic integration, if you will. So I think it’s more of an expansion rather than consolidation.”

Lennie James’ Morgan bridged the two shows for the first time when he boarded Fear in its revamped fourth season, which introduced Elfman’s Laura-slash-June and Garret Dillahunt’s John Dorie alongside Maggie Grace’s Althea and Alexa Nisenson’s Charlie.

New Fear showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg confirmed with ComicBook.com their focus was on their corner of the Walking Dead Universe and its characters, including fan-favorites Alicia Clark (Alycia Debnam-Carey), Victor Strand (Coleman Domingo) and Luciana (Danay García).

“Is it possible? Yes. Is it probable? I would have to vote no on that one,” James said previously when asked about the two shows becoming one.

“I don’t see the point in that. I think it’s more likely that the universe would expand more rather than reduce itself back down to just one show. But that’s only me speaking as Lennie, that’s not me speaking with any knowledge because they only give me as much as I’m allowed to have and that’s above my pay grade.”

Fear teased a merger when Morgan offered to shepherd his newfound allies — including grifters Sarah (Mo Collins) and Wendell (Daryl Mitchell) — to his home of Alexandria, Virginia, before those plans were abandoned in favor of remaining in the west to carry the torch of trucker Polar Bear (Stephen Henderson) and assist strangers in need.

Fear the Walking Dead returns to AMC with Season Five in 2019.