Fear the Walking Dead showrunners tease appearance of familiar faces

Fear the Walking Dead will conclude its story with its eighth season, which premieres in May 2023. The series began airing in 2015 and, throughout its run, has changed direction many times. The final season will see the survivors relocating to a new location known as PADRE, which is quite different from the haven it was long thought to be. Showrunners have teased fans that some familiar faces could appear in the final season; who could they be?

Showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg spoke with SFX Magazine about the upcoming season. For the majority of Season 7 of Fear the Walking Dead, the main group of survivors were scattered across the nuclear wasteland of Texas. Chambliss has stated that the new season will see the characters come back together “and maybe a few other familiar faces.”

Many have taken this to mean that there will be more crossover characters to Fear the Walking Dead, but his other statement, “We wanted to try to make it feel like we weren’t leaving anyone out in the cold,” sounds like he could be referring to past characters. Could it be that in the final season, the creators will honor those characters in a series of flashbacks? This would be one way to ensure “a really satisfying conclusion.”

Fear the Walking Dead season 8

Rumors circulated on social media that Daniel Sharman, who played Troy Otto in the series, had been seen on the set of season 8 of Fear the Walking Dead. Troy died in season 3; he was bludgeoned in the head with a hammer by Madison (Kim Dickens), which would mean there is no way he could return to the current story. But if Madison has some type of flashback or hallucinations, he could appear there. This could be true of other “familiar faces” as well.

It is just a hypothesis of how the showrunners could honor characters who have died throughout the series in the final season—a way to remember those who meant something to the storyline in earlier seasons.

Viewers will find out soon as Fear the Walking Dead returns to AMC+ on May 11 and AMC on May 14 at 9 p.m. ET. 

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