'Fear' Star Lennie James on Outliving Andrew Lincoln in 'The Walking Dead' Universe

The only character from The Walking Dead's 2010 pilot continuing in AMC's Dead universe beyond 2018 will be Lennie James' Morgan Jones, as Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes is poised to make an exit. It's a scenario James could have never imagined.

Moments after Lincoln made his exit official during The Walking Dead's Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, James stopped by ComicBook.com's studio to talk about his role in the upcoming second half of Fear the Walking Dead's fourth season. As it turns out, James is as surprised as anyone (especially those with knowledge of his character's comic book counterpart) to be outlasting Lincoln in zombie shows.

"Of course not," James said when asked if he ever expected such an outcome. "My character is dead in the comic books, dude! I've outlived Rick, I've outlived myself! It's a surreal one. I have some notion of what happens and how it happens and it's gonna be an exciting thing for people to follow and see. He made the choice that he had to make for the right reasons. He looks so well! This zombie stuff takes it out of you but he looks so well. I'm not worried about Andy! He's not doing our hours, I don't feel sorry for him!"

Heading into Fear the Walking Dead's upcoming episodes, James' Morgan is in familiar territory. He is surrounded by characters who have dealt with tremendous loss. Throughout Season Four of Fear, though, no one has suffered more loss than Alicia Clark, and as she emerges as a leader Morgan Jones might see shades of his old friend Rick in her.

"I think one of the brilliant things that the writers did in the way that they've told the story is, somebody said it yesterday, but all of us, we're all orphans of the apocalypse," James said. "We've all got, if not equivalent, we have our own stories of how we've became orphaned. We've seen it play out for Alicia. We have echoes of it. We have memories of it and it effects all of us because we've been there. The brilliant thing that the writers have done is shown us one of those orphans being created in this story that starts to bringing us together. There's no point in doing that unless it propels our story forward and has an effect on the weight of what happens to us in the future."

Though Morgan never met Alicia's mother Madison, her legacy will have an impact on him. "It does have an effect and knowing Madison or not knowing Madison, her legacy will effect us all in the future," James said.

Fear the Walking Dead returns for the back half of its fourth season on August 12th at 9 pm ET on AMC. The Walking Dead returns for its ninth season on October 7, 2018. For more updates and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter!