Madison’s return to Fear the Walking Dead can open the door for Morgan’s exit from the Walking Dead universe. Lennie James’ character has long been a fixture of the franchise, but there’s no guarantee he’ll be around forever. Even so, there’s been a feeling for years that Morgan is in very little danger of dying on Fear the Walking Dead.
The series has faked out viewers with Morgan in the past, but has thus far avoided killing off the fan-favorite character. The possibility of Morgan’s Walking Dead story ending for good was teased in the FTWD season 5 finale when he was shot by Virginia (Colby Minifie). With zombies descending on him as the episode ended, it looked like Morgan’s fate was sealed. But as many expected, Morgan lived to see another day. And although Fear the Walking Dead hasn’t wavered in its focus on Morgan, a recent development could set the stage for his exit.
AMC’s confirmation that Kim Dickens will be back as a series regular in Fear the Walking Dead season 8 makes James’ departure more feasible than it did in previous seasons. As noted above, there’s been a great deal of confidence among the fans that the series won’t let Morgan die. Not only is an he important figure in the Walking Dead universe, but he’s become the heart of the spinoff series (despite not being an original series regular). His significance made the notion of Morgan dying feel very unlikely, but Madison’s return will threaten to change that in a big way. After all, she was the show’s lead character before, meaning that theoretically, she could hold that role again.
As things stand, there isn’t a character on Fear the Walking Dead who would be an obvious replacement for Morgan if James were to exit the series. Quite a few have argued that Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) should have received this position over Morgan, but that no longer seems like the path the show is taking with her. At one point, evolving her into such an important role may have come across as the natural evolution of her character, but her limited screen-time in recent seasons indicates the show has no intention of going in this direction. Madison, on the other hand, has already proven that she has what it takes to headline the series and lead the group.
When Fear the Walking Dead gets Madison back, it’ll have someone who is certainly capable of taking the reins from Morgan eventually. if Morgan knows his group is in good hands with Madison, he could die content with the way things are in a future season. Of course, his status as a mainstay of the Walking Dead universe could remain unchanged, but the presence of both the current and original protagonists will at least make Morgan’s death seem like a realistic option.