Fear the Walking Dead anthology format gives actors flexibility

The latest casting news for Fear the Walking Dead’s Alycia Debnam-Carey has Fear fans worried about her character, Alicia’s fate. There have also been many grumblings about the anthology format that the series has been using. But, wait a moment, this is a good thing.

Colman Domingo has been given the flexibility to be involved in several other projects, including Fear TWD because Victor Strand isn’t featured in every episode. Fans have seen him in the new Candyman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Euphoria and next, he will star in Rustin and The Color Purple musical.  He has also been involved in other projects such as Bottomless Brunch and the Blackout podcast series. It would be a shame for a man with this much talent to be boxed into only one character.

As for Debnam-Carey, the current casting of Saints X shouldn’t interfere with Fear TWD filming as it is currently filming, and Fear TWD is rumored to begin filming this summer. And, if it overlaps, perhaps Alicia won’t be featured in the first part of season 8 if the pattern of anthology episodes continues.

Domingo has been absent for the first three episodes of season 7B, and it hasn’t taken away from the storyline.

Walking Dead universe filming

The anthology episodes are a great idea to give actors of long-running series the opportunity for a break or to commit to other projects. Take, for instance, the flagship series recent spinoff news. Melissa McBride committed to a spinoff with Norman Reedus but keep in mind this was before a pandemic completely messed with everything. Now, after 12 years of filming The Walking Dead, for which the final season took the cast a whole year to film, she is burnt out and needs a break. And anyone who has been overworked should be able to understand this.

Another example is Tales of the Walking Dead. These episodes are one and done, which allows names like Terry Crews, Poppy Liu, Olivia Munn, Parker Posey, etc. to be a part of The Walking Dead universe without committing to an unknown amount of time for the main character in a series that no one would have guessed would continue this long.

Many fans of TWDU enjoy seeing the actors from these series spread their wings and use their talents to their full potential. Anthology episodes give them the freedom to use the full range of their abilities while keeping up their characters within TWDU.

So, perhaps Alicia will die in season 7, but just because she has been cast in this new role isn’t a guarantee of that. Because you may not know this, she has already been filming other things besides Fear TWD. She will star in a series, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, and a movie titled Like. 

Follow Undead Walking on Twitter and sign up for the once-daily Undead Walking newsletter to avoid missing out on all things in The Walking Dead universe.