‘The Walking Dead’: Lennie James Reveals Morgan’s Crossover To ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Was His Choice

Since the announcement that Morgan (Lennie James) would cross over from The Walking Dead to its companion program, Fear the Walking Dead, fans have been speculating about how it will all unfold. Initially, many viewers decided it would likely occur during one of the times Morgan was absent from the main group in The Walking Dead. This would mean his character makes a journey to the location of Fear the Walking Dead sometime between when Morgan and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) first parted ways in Season 1 of The Walking Dead, or after their second encounter in Episode 12 of Season 3, and then returned before his next encounter with the group in Alexandria. Both of these points allow for large time breaks that could possibly see Morgan make a trip across to Fear the Walking Dead.

However, it now seems likely, after a recent trailer for the Season 4 premiere of Fear the Walking Dead, that Morgan will leave Season 8 of The Walking Dead and travel across the country to meet up with the cast of Fear. This would mean a major jump for Fear the Walking Dead. But, with Morgan’s current state of mind, it will make his storyline with the cast of Fear a very interesting one indeed.

While how and why Morgan crosses over between the two shows are not entirely clear just yet, Lennie James has revealed that AMC approached him about the crossover and asked him if it was something he was interested in doing. This occurred around the time that Scott Gimple was also crossing over between the two shows according to Uproxx.

“[Gimple] talked about his new role of overseeing both shows and then he said ‘How would you like to continue the story of Morgan in Fear the Walking Dead?”

Gimple revealed to Lennie James that he would like to see Morgan cross over to Fear the Walking Dead and have his story continue there. However, the decision to do this was left entirely up to James. If Lennie decided not to have Morgan cross over between the two shows, Gimple agreed they would go back to the draw board and come up with a different storyline for Morgan.

Lennie James took this story arc for his character very seriously, thinking it through very carefully before deciding on the crossover. He revealed further details of the ongoing discussions between himself and Scott Gimple to Digital Spy.

“We just started talking about it over the next couple of weeks and months as there was a lot to take on board. It wasn’t a case of, ‘This is going to happen,’ it was genuinely a case of what I thought about it, there was absolutely a choice.”

If this crossover between the two shows is successful, it is possible it might happen again in the future. Already, Gimple has suggested there is more in development in relation to The Walking Dead universe. Some of this might — in theory — include ways of blending the current shows.

And if you think the relationship between Morgan and Rick Grimes will be over with Morgan switching over to Fear the Walking Dead, Andrew Lincoln reveals there might still be more story to tell between these two characters. When questioned by Entertainment Weekly about Morgan leaving The Walking Dead at the end of Season 8, Lincoln made the following statement.

“There was a sort of sense, certainly, with Lennie, that it’s until we meet again. It’s always been that way with Rick and Morgan. I don’t know, there’s something in the air, that I feel that it’s not quite the end yet for Rick and Morgan.”

The Walking Dead returns to AMC with Episode 15 (titled “Worth”) of Season 8 on Sunday, April 8, at 9 p.m. EST. Season 4 of Fear the Walking Dead will premiere on Sunday, April 15, at 10 p.m. EST.