Fear the Walking Dead is set to conclude with season 8 while other franchise spinoffs get ready to premiere. The show aired in 2015 as a spinoff of the long-running zombie drama The Walking Dead. Fear the Walking Dead centered initially on the blended Clark family as they attempted to survive a chaotic world following the initial zombie outbreak. However, as family members began to die off, the series cast quickly changed as new and returning franchise characters joined the show. Morgan Jones (Lennie James), an original prominent cast member from The Walking Dead, eventually joined the group of survivors in season 4. With The Walking Dead concluding last year, now Fear the Walking Dead follows suit and finishes its eight-year run.
AMC recently announced that Fear the Walking Dead will end with season 8 while also promising an exciting new future in The Walking Dead franchise with new spinoff shows ready to go. AMC President Dan McDermott and The Walking Dead's franchise chief content officer, Scott M. Gimple, released a statement that praised the final season of Fear the Walking Dead while teasing the upcoming spinoff shows to include The Walking Dead: Dead City with Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), Daryl Dixon which sees Norman Reedus return as the titular character, and a new limited series that will conclude Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne's (Danai Gurira) journey in the franchise. Read what McDermott and Gimple said below:
Dan McDermott: It’s a truly exciting year for The Walking Dead Universe, as we conclude an epic journey on Fear the Walking Dead, which became one of the most successful shows in the history of cable television. And now we are set to bring forth the next iteration of the franchise - two new and anticipated series featuring the beloved characters of Maggie, Negan and Daryl. Along with that we begin production on the next chapter in Rick and Michonne’s unforgettable love story, which we look forward to sharing next year. This next phase of our beloved Walking Dead franchise promises to engage and enthrall faithful viewers. Fans new and old will love seeing zombies walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, beneath the Eiffel Tower, inside the Louvre, and at dozens more exotic and iconic locations from around the country and world.
Scott M. Gimple: The Walking Dead Universe LIVES! To conclude Fear the Walking Dead, we're thrilled to be bringing you one of its most vibrant, inventive, exciting seasons EVER, while breaking new ground with old favorites: Maggie and Negan in the madhouse of post-apocalyptic Manhattan with no one to depend on but each other…Daryl Dixon in France, a loner who cannot move through this new dangerous world alone, facing vicious enemies and never-seen-before threats of the undead. And Rick and Michonne, in a romantic saga of the dangerous road to each other, and the road they must find with each other, cornered by a new civilization and hordes of the dead.
What to Expect in Fear the Walking Dead Season 8
Fear the Walking Dead season 7 concluded with Morgan finally meeting Madison Clark (Kim Dickens), the mother of Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Care), who was thought to have been killed off in season 4. After battling Victor Strand (Colman Domingo), which later results in Alicia inadvertently destroying Strand's stronghold, The Tower, Morgan departs Texas to Louisiana with baby Mo on a life raft in search of a better place. He encounters Madison, who works for PADRE, a survivor community that kidnaps children. Posing as a child Collector, Morgan joins Madison on a trip to visit PADRE.
With season 8 set to conclude Alicia and Madison's long journey, the survivors will likely find a real chance to settle down somewhere safe and live a peaceful life, similar to the finale of The Walking Dead. With PADRE teased at the end of season 7's finale, the mysterious location may be that very community to give the heroes a chance for a new beginning. However, Morgan and Madison will first need to find baby Mo and fully understand the purpose of PADRE if they stand a chance at taking it for themselves.
Like the Commonwealth community in The Walking Dead's final season, PADRE will offer the heroes hope for a normal life but will likely be the primary antagonists in the story. With PADRE stealing children to ensure a future for humanity, probably hoping to instill the kids with a sense of optimism that cannot be gained through the harsh day-to-day in the post-apocalyptic world, the community provides the best option for Alicia and her crew to find a place to call their own. With Fear the Walking Dead season 8 set to premiere May 14, audiences must be patient to see where their long-fought journey ends.
Source: AMC