Fear The Walking Dead has always operated under the massive shadow of its spin-off parent The Walking Dead, leading to some pretty insane expectations from fans and AMC executives alike. But those that stuck through some uneven points in the first two season were rewarded with a pretty satisfying season three that just ended with a literal bang. The season finale also happens to be showrunner Dave Erickson’s last episode at the helm. He’s on to new projects, and will leave a pretty clean slate for Once Upon A Time producers Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg to work on.
Erickson spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about moving on, and what Fear The Walking Dead stories he was leaving untold. One of those would have involved Madison continuing her violent slide until she “became a Negan.”
“The thing that’s interesting to me, and one of the questions I asked myself and asked Robert Kirkman very [early] on was of the people in our group, who do you see becoming the Governor?” Erickson said. “Of our group, who could become a Negan? That’s interesting to me, to watch an evolution of a character and start with them as a hero, and bleed that into antihero, and bleed that into full-on villain. It would have been interesting. In terms of the final conflict within the family, it would have been key. For me, there’s a lot left for Madison specifically.”
Now all bets are off. Erickson admitted the decision to *spoilers here* blow up the Gonzalez Dam and leave many of the main characters in a Schrödinger’s cat state wasn’t just to create an exciting cliffhanger. It also allowed the new showrunners complete freedom moving forward, even if that means killing all the Clarks.
“There was definitely more story I had for Nick and Madison and Alicia,” he said. “I would want to keep that core Clark family going for a while long. I’m sure the guys will … Strictly in terms of plot, and who survives and doesn’t survive? It was designed in a way to leave the door open so the new guys can do what they want to do.”
So prepare yourself for a potentially very different Fear The Walking Dead season four, one that may feature fewer familiar faces, unless you count the potential arrival of a character or two from The Walking Dead.
