The first trailer for AMC's The Walking Dead spin-off, the aptly named Fear the Walking Dead, has finally arrived. As previously teased, the group is headed off to sea in an attempt to find a better and less zombie-filled existence. However, as the first trailer makes clear, walkers (maybe some swimmers?) will certainly pop in to deter that.
"It's not going to be a dramatic jump," Fear the Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson tells the Hollywood Reporter of the forthcoming premiere's introduction of the fresh setting. "In the wake of what's going on in Los Angeles, I didn't want to abandon the city without some residue about what it was like to lose the city. I wanted the audience to have an introduction to the boat."
As confirmed by Erickson, a "good amount" of the blockbuster spin-off's second season will take place on the boat. However, for concerned fans fearing some sort of slowdown once the series sets off to sea, Erickson says not to worry. "Here's what it's not going to be: We're not doing the Love Boat with zombies," Erickson promises. "Every episode will not be a new port of call; there's no Juliette McCoy. We are going to go to land and we are going to have a balance between sea and land."
As the second season's key art has already pointed out, even the inaugural season finale's promise of a better life thanks to Victor (Colman Domingo)'s yacht is likely a profoundly short-lived burst of encouragement in an otherwise brutal reality:
The theme of AMC's latest smash, according to Erickson, will revolve around the concept of "quality of displacement." Though specifics and full-on spoilers are nowhere to be found in the mouths of those closest to the show, Dead fans can be assured that this is likely just thinly veiled code for a promise of additional misery and dread all filtered through the larger metaphor established on its predecessor, The Walking Dead.
Fear the Walking Dead's second season, marking the return of (the surviving members of) the first season's pitch-perfect cast, premieres on AMC on April 10. As Erickson notes in a separate interview with Variety, this batch has been bumped up from last season's six-episode run to a far more intriguing 15. If that's not enough post-apocalyptic television for you, then fear not: AMC is apparently considering an even greater expansion of the franchise.
