Morgan Probably Won’t Die On ‘The Walking Dead’ Before ‘Fear’ Crossover

Though Morgan Jones is leaving The Walking Dead for Fear the Walking Dead, the character might not meet his end on the original series.

Sunday’s Talking Dead announced The Walking Dead‘s Lennie James would leave the original series in favor of serving as the crossover character joining Fear the Walking Dead. Quickly, cast members such as Khary Payton and Seth Gilliam expressed their grief over losing the co-star on set.

Payton wrote, “I miss you already, Lennie,” with Gilliam adding, “Same here, @kharypayton …same here…”.

Still, it seems unlikely the producers of The Walking Dead would allow a major death in the Season 8 finale to be spoiled by a casting announcement. James wrapped The Walking Dead‘s eighth season almost exactly one week ago, only to head directly to Austin, Texas for Fear the Walking Dead Season 4.

Part of the argument for Morgan’s survival is fueled by comment from new Fear the Walking Dead showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg. “We look forward to working with Lennie to continue the journey Morgan began on The Walking Dead,” Chambliss and Goldberg said.

Then, there are the comment from James himself. “To take Morgan into this new realm and landscape, to see who he could now be, to see where his story could go in the world of Fear the Walking Dead is wonderfully exciting and I am really looking forward to the challenge,” James said.

To “continue the journey” with Morgan, Fear the Walking Dead would be telling his story beyond The Walking Dead Season 8, right? There are long periods of time where Morgan was absent from The Walking Dead, first going on a journey where he would lose both his son Duane and his mind, then another where he would find himself and a man named Eastman. The geographical locations of both journeys have yet to be revealed but signs point towards the character never distancing himself from the United States’ east coast.

Of course, Fear the Walking Dead is set years prior to The Walking Dead‘s current storyline, making a time jump necessary to bring Morgan to the story with the Clark family. If, in fact, the show does go for a time jump to kick off its fourth season, Morgan’s joining of the sibling series might be the start of bringing the two shows together.

Following the war with Negan, Morgan’s role on Fear the Walking Dead would be far more interesting to fans if his story beyond the war is being told. In fact, it would make Fear the Walking Dead feel a bit like The Walking Dead Season 8.5, as the character would go directly from one show to another with Fear’s new episodes airing during The Walking Dead‘s off-season. Should he decide to lead the new group of survivors he encounters to Alexandria, the shows could be entirely merged by Season 9 of The Walking Dead but that may be diving too deep into the speculation well.

Fear the Walking Dead returns for its fourth season in 2018. The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.