The talking points on Fear the Walking Dead over the last month have essentially been, “This is a completely different show than The Walking Dead,” except for, you know, the fact that they take place in the same universe and deal with the same outbreak. But it’s a different set of characters in a different city (Los Angeles) during a different time (at the inception of the outbreak).
Believe it or not, there are enough distinctions between the shows to suggest that they really will be different. Robert Kirkman has also been outspoken about the fact that you don’t have to be a fan of The Walking Dead to get into Fear the Walking Dead, although he has also indicated that being a viewer of The Walking Dead may enhance your experience with Fear the Walking Dead.
Showrunner Scott Erickson has revealed that there may be yet another difference aside from the fact that Fear the Walking Dead will not go “full zombie,” and that is that the “not-full zombies” will probably be known by another term other than “walker,” as they are known on The Walking Dead. Erickson tells Yahoo TV:
“All I’ll say is this: I love the fact that in the comic and the original show, the vernacular, the language, varies depending on your community, your city, your state, whether it’s walkers or biters.
“The names that we’ll play with are kind of specific to what our characters experience as the story begins. Which is, if it seems to be a virus, it’s a contagion, are they infected? It will be in that world at first, and then I think it will approach something a little bit more apocalyptic. That will coalesce as the season plays out.”
Well, if they’re not going to be called “walkers,” what might they be called in the Los Angeles universe? The comics series has referred to them frequently as “roamers” or “lurkers,” while those in Woodbury referred to them as “Biters.” They have also been referred to as “geeks,” “lame brains,” “monsters,” “meat puppets,” “empties,” “deadies,” “creepers,” “eaters,” “ghouls,” “psychos,” “Creepy-Crawlies” “goons,” “skin eaters,” and “rotters,” among others, in the TV show, comics, and video game.
Here’s a novel idea, however: Call them “zombies.” It’s Los Angeles, after all. It’s the movie capital of the world. There’s no way they never would’ve heard of “zombies” in Hollywood. I mean, surely they’ve all seen Zombieland.
Source: Yahoo TV
