Fans hoping to learn more about what caused the zombie outbreak in Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead universe with AMC's upcoming spin-off show Fear The Walking Dead are in for some disappointment.
Despite taking place during "the beginning of the end of the world," Kirkman confirmed to a panel at the NAB Show in Las Vegas that the origins of the zombie outbreak would not be the priority of Fear The Walking Dead.
"[Learning the origins] is not the priority in Walking Dead; that's not the priority in Fear The Walking Dead," said Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead comic series which sparked AMC's The Walking Dead show and its now subsequent spin-off, Fear The Walking Dead.
Kirkman admitted though, that he knows the cause.
"I know the story, but I've never bothered to write it down," he said. "Let's hope I don't die."
Continuing, Kirkman suggested that Fear The Walking Dead, which debuts this summer and is set in Los Angeles, will take us "back to a timid time when the walking dead wer emore dangerous and more of an ever present threat."
"It's possible the people we're following on this show are a little more deadly," he added.
Fear The Walking Dead will act as a companion series to The Walking Dead, and will be completely standalone, meaning you won't need any prior Walking Dead history to keep track of what's going on. It'll focuson an entirely new set of characters and storylines, and although it's technically set during the initial phase of the outbreak "It's not a prequel in that at the end of this series Rick will wake up from his coma," Kirkman said. He even added that there will be some timeline overlap between the two shows.
AMC has already placed a two-season order for Fear The Walking Dead, with the first — six one-hour episodes — premiering in "late summer" 2015 on AMC. The second season will air in 2016.
