Robert Kirkman is a very busy man these days. In addition to being the executive producer behind the smash AMC hit The Walking Dead , he’s also spearheading the show’s first ever spin-off, titled Fear The Walking Dead .
[Warning: Spoilers Ahead]
In between, he’s answering fan’s questions on what the relationship between the two shows are going to be, as he did this past week at the NAB show in Las Vegas. And while Kirkman refrained from getting too detailed about Fear , the Walking Dead creator made one thing perfectly clear: this will be no prequel.
According to Mashable , Robert was adamant that the new spin-off Fear The Walking Dead will not reveal the origin behind the zombie plague.
“[Learning the origins] is not the priority in Walking Dead ; that’s not the priority in Fear The Walking Dead ,” Kirkman told the packed panel at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. “Every other story deals with that stuff and we’re concerned about the heart.”
Fear The Walking Dead , which began shooting earlier this year, revolves around a completely different cast of characters than the original show, lead by Kim Dickens ( Gone Girl , Sons of Anarchy ), Cliff Curtis ( Missing , Gang Related ), Frank Dillane ( Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ) and Alycia Debnam Carey ( Into the Storm ). Taking place in Los Angeles, the story focuses on what life was like just as the zombie plague started to affect the world.
So will Fear ever cross paths with The Walking Dead? Kirkman played it very coy, but did mention there could be some overlap between the two shows. Mainly, he wanted to stress that Fear The Walking Dead will take viewers “back to a timid time when the walking dead were more dangerous and more of an ever present threat.”
As for its counterpart, there was plenty for Robert to talk about as The Walking Dead heads into its sixth season. As reported by Inquistr , Kirkman even joked about the potential death of a major character. The fact that actor Stephen Yeun, who plays seasoned veteran Glenn on the show, was seated next to him when he did, might not bode particularly well for Yeun, according to the Wrap .
“We don’t kill the popular characters,” Kirkman deadpanned.
Whether or not Glenn does bite the bullet, Robert made it a point to stress that The Walking Dead is a series that could live on, despite its penchant for reshuffling the deck.
“This isn’t the kind of show where the creative team is going to say, ‘It’s important to us that we end it here,’ ” Kirkman said. “The story that we’re trying to tell is so big, and the framework is set in the comics — I’m producing more than 12 issues a year. All of that stuff is stuff that we would like to someday adapt into the show.”
[ Fear The Walking Dead image via Entertainment Weekly ]
