New ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Spoilers: Origin Of Zombie Apocalypse Revealed?

Details behind Fear The Walking Dead – the most anticipated spin-off on TV – continue to rise faster than the undead zombies themselves.

First, AMC released a surprising new teaser trailer that tingled the fans’ curiosities, as reported by Inquistr. Now, Fear The Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson and creator Robert Kirkman have spilled even more secrets to The Hollywood Reporter including first and foremost: is this a prequel or not?

“‘Prequel’ is not the right word; it’s kind of its own strange, hybrid thing,” Erickson tried to explain. “That’s why a ‘companion piece’ has been the phrase used at the network. It’s not a prequel in the sense of Better Call Saul, where we’re jumping back six, seven years. It does tie very specifically into the pilot of the original.”

According to Erickson, Fear The Walking Dead will loosely cover the period of time when Rick Grimes of the original Walking Dead series was in his coma at the onset of Season 1. “We’re able to watch and experience the things that he missed,” Scott said.

So, is one of those things the origin of the zombie apocalypse itself? So far, the answer is no. But not because he didn’t want to, but because The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman put the kibosh on it.

“I had a couple of early pitches that touched on [the origin] and Robert shut me down. For him, it’s never been about what caused it; it’s always been about the impact it has on people. Robert’s always said — and this is what we try to anchor Fear in is: Your parents got divorced or there are zombies. You didn’t get invited to the prom, or there are zombies. Because we’re starting a bit earlier and have more of a slow burn into the apocalypse of season one, it gives us the opportunity to really ground our family’s problems. The main narrative drive is the conflicts within this family dynamic and how those things are exacerbated by the arrival of the apocalypse.”

So, while fans won’t find out the origin of the zombie apocalypse, they will at least get to see some pretty monstrous looking zombies according to series creator Robert Kirkman. “We’re definitely going to have a different look to the zombies,” Kirkman told Comic Book Resources recently. “They are not going to be as decayed. They are going to be as monstrous, which to me is going to make the violence in the show and the different things that happen, that much more startling.”

Fear The Walking Dead airs on AMC this summer.

[Image via The Hollywood Reporter