Chris Hardwick moderated the Fear the Walking Dead panel in the Arena at WonderCon 2018 on Saturday, March 24. The panel started off with the never-before-seen trailer for Season 4 of Fear the Walking Dead (which you can click here to watch).
Then Chris Hardwick called out the panelists on stage, which included Executive Producer and Chief Content Officer Scott Gimple, Executive Producers and Co-Showrunners Ian Goldberg and Andrew Chambliss, Greg Nicotero, existing cast members Colman Domingo (Victor Strand), Alycia Debnam-Carey (Alicia), Danay Garcia (Luciana), and new cast members Lennie James (Morgan, who is making the crossover from The Walking Dead), Maggie Grace (Althea), Garret Dillahunt (John), and Jenna Elfman (Naomi). Kim Dickens (Madison) was unable to make it to the panel, as she had to stay behind in Austin to film the show, but she did send a video greeting everyone at WonderCon.
Scott Gimple talked about what to expect in Season 4 of Fear the Walking Dead, saying that “It’s everything you love about the show” but with new characters and new relationships. Andrew Chambliss added that this season is about “a journey from isolation to community.” Ian Goldberg talked about Morgan’s journey on The Walking Dead lining up with the characters on Fear the Walking Dead in such an “undeniable” way that convinced them that he should be part of the story.
Greg Nicotero, who does special make-up effects, addressed working on the walkers on both The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, saying that it surprises him that even after doing this for 8 years, they’re still able to come up with something new. However, he also said that one thing that is the most consistent between the two shows is the walkers.
Colman Domingo spoke about his character, saying that he’s always thought that Victor Strand was “a symbol of the deconstructing capitalism, all the things that we hold near and dear.” As for this season, he said that Victor is “reassessing the world,” and that it was a possibility for him to be part of something bigger, and to help out with the group’s survival.
Alycia Debnam-Carey talked about her character, Alicia, growing from a teenager into an adult, saying that she was done being “the golden child,” and that it was a big moment for her when she walked away at the end of Season 3.
As for Danay Garcia, she said that she loves playing a character with layers, like Luciana. She said that Luciana left because she had to “find her own path.” Danay also opined that in this world, there is no villain, they’re all just trying to survive.
Lennie James described Morgan as “a man of extremes,” saying that “If you’re gonna kill, you might as well kill everybody, and if you’re not gonna kill, then you shouldn’t kill anyone!” He said that now that Morgan is on Fear, he has no history, so he gets the chance to decide who he is going to be now. Lennie only had a 6 day break between finishing The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, and he’s still trying to get a grasp on the new show, so he said he was avoiding comparisons for now. He explained, “It’s like comparing your sister to your girlfriend that you’ve only just met.” (This phrase came up as a joke several times later during the panel!)
Maggie Grace (known to Lost fans as Shannon), couldn’t tell us much about her character, Althea. However, she did tell us how much she loves her character, who is “unusually capable,” has a real agenda, and a soulful side. The showrunners added that Althea is thriving in the apocalypse in a way that other people wouldn’t, and in a way that we haven’t seen anyone in The Walking Dead universe. Part of the reason for this has to do with who she was before the apocalypse, and she actually hasn’t changed that much. “She is uniquely qualified to be in the apocalypse, and she has an agenda within there.” Maggie added that she thought Althea is a really fun character that people would dig watching.
Garret Dillahunt (Deadwood) didn’t reveal much about his character John, saying that “he is comfortable with his old school skills.”
As for Jenna Elfman, Chris Hardwick asked her about a photo of her character, Naomi, and Madison covered in oil. Jenna said that it was one of her first walker kill stunt scenes. She went back to what was said earlier about isolation vs. community, saying that when we find Naomi, she’s in the middle of that struggle, and is a little skittish — which leads to the oil tank. Jenna admitted that this is the most physical show she’s ever worked on, and that she tries to do as many stunts as she can.
The panel was also opened up for audience questions.
When asked who Morgan would teach the ways of the staff to, Lennie answered that Morgan has lost so many mentees that way, that he would rather avoid teaching anyone. Lennie also revealed that Morgan was trying to remain isolated even after meeting the characters on Fear the Walking Dead.
Chris Hardwick was asked a question as well: who would he align with on Fear the Walking Dead to keep him safe? Chris struggled to come up with an answer, listing the pros and cons of each character, but ultimately couldn’t decide. However, Jenna Elfman pointed out that humor would be a good commodity, and that he could run a barter system for it, so the two decided to align.
The writers said that writing for Madison this year has been fun, and that “there are things Madison will do that will surprise people.” Apparently she also has a lot of funny one liners this season.
When asked about the time jump, the writers acknowledged that they “do some unusual things with time this season.”
One vague reveal that we got from Lennie is that there is one particular character who wants to know about Morgan’s past, but that Morgan doesn’t want to tell anything to, and that this plays out throughout the season.
Maggie Grace’s own cousin, Luke, even stepped up to the microphone to ask a question, which was what inspirations she used to develop her character. Maggie confessed she had been afraid of what question he would ask, because apparently a few years ago he had gone to the Lockout panel and asked what her Mom thought of the movie. Chris Hardwick jokingly tried to turn the question to around to be about an embarrassing thing that happened to Luke. But to answer Luke’s question, Maggie said that she was trying to highlight what separates us from the walkers, and the moments where we rise above and find real grace in humanity.
Garret said that he didn’t really have a preference between playing gritty characters or funny characters, saying that he likes change and trying to do something different from the last thing he did, “and this fits right into that.”
As for whether Alicia would like to find another love interest, Alycia answered that she thinks Alicia wants to be on her own right now rather than be in a relationship, and also pointed out that her last relationship “kind of wasn’t really a relationship,” and that by the end of it, she was the one wearing the pants.
At that, the panel ran out of time. Season 4 of Fear the Walking Dead premieres on Sunday, April 15, right after the Season 8 finale of The Walking Dead. Then Talking Dead will be on after that, featuring cast members from both shows.
Up next in the Arena was the Agents of SHIELD panel. Click here to continue to our recap and photos of it!
You can view more of our photos from the Fear the Walking Dead panel at WonderCon 2018 below.
