‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Co-Creator Hopes to See Other Past Characters Return

Fear the Walking Dead co-creator and former showrunner Dave Erickson hopes to see the return of [...]

By Cameron Bonomolo

Fear the Walking Dead co-creator and former showrunner Dave Erickson hopes to see the return of Qaletaqa Walker (Michael Greyeyes) and Lee (Justin Rain), a.k.a. 'Crazy Dog,' as The Walking Dead spinoff heads into its fifth season.

As reported by ComicBook.com Tuesday, both Daniel Salazar (Rubén Blades) and Troy Otto (Daniel Sharman) will return to the series in Season Five following Daniel's disappearance and Troy's apparent death at the hands of Madison (Kim Dickens) in Season Three.

Responding to a fan who tweeted Erickson needs to return to Fear "before [executive producer and chief content officer] Scott Gimple destroys two of the best characters you introduced into the show," Erickson replied he's "very proud" of both characters and "humbled" by the talented portrayals of Blades and Sharman.

"I'm happy to see the characters' on-screen lives extended," Erickson wrote. "Hopefully Michael Greyeyes and Justin Rain aren't far behind."

Erickson, who served as showrunner for Fear's first three seasons, exited the series last March when he inked a multi-year overall development deal with producers AMC. Erickson created the fan-favorite Fear with The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman as an off-shoot of the flagship series.

Following Erickson's departure, Once Upon a Time showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg were installed as the new leads on Fear for Season Four with former five-season Walking Dead showrunner Gimple — who in January was elevated to CCO for the entire Walking Dead brand — taking on a creative role on Fear.

Gimple, Chambliss and Goldberg opted to kill off longtime lead Madison when porting over The Walking Dead's Morgan (Lennie James), officially bridging the two sister series for the first time as the initial step towards a quickly expanding Walking Dead Universe.

It was Gimple who approached James with the idea of a crossover, with Morgan being the sole choice to emerge as the character who would jump from one show to the other.

Chambliss and Goldberg have since defended the controversial decision to kill Madison — a move that left Dickens admittedly "heartbroken" and "devastated."

Erickson, in responding to Dickens' exit, praised the actress for her "layered and subtle" performance and called Dickens a "gracious and compassionate human being."

Greyeyes — whose Walker walked off with Lee in the penultimate episode of Season Three, headed North to reunite with their people — commented on the revamped show in September, tweeting:

"Before I worked on the show, I was a big fan of it and especially Kim. When I heard she had left the show, I was shocked. Sadly, with all the other departure[s] as well, I've lost the sense of it being the show I had first loved."

Season Four also saw the loss of Madison's son, Nick Clark (Frank Dillane), who asked to be killed off the series.

Dillane later explained he wanted to leave because of the "many changes" in leadership, and noted "the beginning of [Season Four] kind of felt like the end of an era with this show." The foreign Dillane had also grown homesick and wished to return to Europe.

Lisandra Tena, who played short-lived Gonzalez Dam leader Lola in Season Three, also criticized the new direction of the series in an August tweet, when she wrote she "agreed" with a fan message that said the original show "died" in its third season.

Dickens has since moved on to other projects but cast doubt on Madison's death in October, saying she believes Madison would have "shimmied up that wall" in the baseball stadium where she died a fiery death when surrounded by an overwhelming horde of walkers.

Fear the Walking Dead is now shooting Season Five and will debut on AMC in 2019.

0comments
Start the Conversation

of