Fear the Walking Dead: First Trailer, More News
The New Walking Dead spinoff, Fear the Walking Dead just unveiled its first teaser trailer, and we have all the details on that and more...
Robert Kirkman has confirmed that The Walking Dead spinoff will be called Fear The Walking Dead. That title has been floating around the internet for a while, but there had been no official word until this tweet:
IT'S OFFICIAL! The walking dead companion show on AMC is called FEAR THE WALKING DEAD! Expect more news very soon! #FearTheWalkingDead
During The Walking Dead season 5 finale, the first trailer for Fear the Walking Dead aired. You can watch that right here:
Fear The Walking Dead will arrive this summer, according to Deadline, and has already secured a second season. Again, this is not surprising at all. The Walking Dead viewership is larger than ever, as the fifth season races to a close this month, so AMC definitely wants to keep the zombie-filled money train rolling.
The first season will consist of six episodes, matching the first season of The Walking Dead. Presumably, the second season will be a bit longer and probably run during The Walking Dead's off-season. Basically, Walking Dead all of the time.
Kirkman revealed some new details at SXSW about The Walking Dead spinoff series that's due out this summer. Questions have undoubtedly been raised about when this series takes place in respects to its big brother, which is about to end its fifth season.
EW reported on Kirkman's comments at the "Creative Activism" panel. Kirkman said on the when the series takes place:
From the beginning of the show one thing we've heard is, 'What's going on over here or there.' So the intent of the new show is to expand that world and show another corner of the United States and what's happening there. The timeline is taking place a little bit earlier timeframe than the original show. Rick Grimes woke up from a coma and was like, 'Oh, man, zombies, weird!' We're going to possibly see that unfold a little more in the other show. But I wouldn't call it 'prequel' because the entirety of the show is not going take place before [The Walking Dead]. It will eventually form a path running concurrently.
So the spinoff, which begins before Rick Grimes wakes up from his coma, will eventually catch up to the main series.
Mr. Kirkman really wants to make the point that this show will definitely stand on its own as an addition to Walking Dead lore. You do not need to have seen the main show to get into the spinoff. Zombies everywhere. That's the premise. He did say there might be a little bit of fan service here and there, though:
One thing that we're doing with the new show that we're trying with everything is it's not derivative. It's standing on its own. You can watch it by itself and get your own experience. But if you are watching both shows there are things like, 'Oh they discovered this, or they discovered that in a different way.' There are a lot of things about The Walking Dead world these characters have to learn or figure out to get by. And there may be some things that are discovered in the companion show that haven't been discovered in the other show yet. So there could be like a thing where, 'Oh, they encountered a zombie in season 4 in The Walking Dead that could do this and now we know why that was.' So we're going to be doing things like that are going to be pretty cool, but for the most part [the two shows] should be able to stand alone.
More on The Walking Dead spinoff as we learn it.