‘The Walking Dead’ Season 6 May Introduce Spinoff Character, Says New Rumor
‘The Walking Dead’ has barely lifted the veil on season 5's second half, let alone the LA-set spinoff to arrive sometime this year, but already major intel on the AMC horror-drama’s sixth season may have leaked. A new report suggests that one of the spinoff’s characters will feature into season 6 of ‘The Walking Dead’ proper, but what might it mean?
Take this one with a truckload of salt for the moment, but Nerdist has released a new video report claiming that at least one of the spinoff’s major characters will appear in a 6-episode arc of the next ‘Walking Dead’ season, presumably before appearing in the spinoff itself. Given what we know of the spinoff’s California pre-apocalypse setting, it isn’t yet known if the spinoff character would appear in flashbacks of some sort, or if we’d meet an older version that made his or her way to the Atlanta area.
To be honest, I’m a bit torn on this one, given the unusual method of announcement, and apparent distancing from perennial ‘Talking Dead’ host and Nerdist founder Chris Hardwick. Not only that, but it would seem unusual of ‘The Walking Dead’ to suddenly introduce a flashback format, or potentially spoil the fate of a spinoff’s major character. Recent weeks have also seen purported pilot script leaks under the title ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ (something Nerdist corroborates) though both title and content seem indicative of an earlier draft, and nothing guaranteed to make it to final air.
As to the spinoff’s confirmed details, ‘The Last Airbender’ star Cliff Curtis will lead the cast as divorced teacher Sean Cabrera, with ‘Gone Girl’ star Kim Dickens as high school guidance counselor Nancy. Also cast in the role of her two children from a previous marriage are ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ star Frank Dillane and AMC pilot ‘Galyntine’’s Alycia Debnam Carey.
‘Walking Dead’ executive producers Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert will all take part in the new L.A.-set series, while ‘Sons of Anarchy’ and ‘Low Winter Sun’ vet Dave Erickson will both co-write and executive produce, and Adam Davidson will direct the pilot. Meanwhile, ‘The Walking Dead’ proper’s fifth season will resume on February 8, adding Ross Marquand as a new mystery man, and ‘American Horror Story’ star Alexandra Breckinridge.
We’ve included both Nerdist’s video and the latest ‘Walking Dead’ season 5 trailer below, but what do you think? Would it make enough sense for the main AMC series to introduce one of its spinoff characters in season 6? How would you like to see both series’ crossover, given the different timelines and locations?