The crossover character of The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead was revealed during Sunday night’s episode of Talking Dead. The crossover character will be Morgan Jones and will be played by Lennie James.
James is set to move to The Walking Dead spinoff Fear the Walking Dead in a starring role as a series regular for Season 4 in 2018. He appeared as Morgan Jones in the very first episode of The Walking Dead. Morgan did not appear in the series until the fifth season, but he did make an appearance in an episode in Season 3. James will be joining new series regulars Garret Dillahunt and Jenna Elfman and returning cast members Kim Dickens, Frank Dillane, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo, and Danay Garcia. The crossover between the two AMC series was announced last month at New York Comic Con by EP Robert Kirkman. The new announcement of James’ appearance in Fear sparked a lot of excitement within The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead crew.
“Lennie James’ brilliance and humanity in his portrayal of Morgan Jones has been part of the DNA of what makes The Walking Dead so fantastic since the very beginning,” said Scott M. Gimple who serves as the executive producer of both series. “Morgan’s story will continue in this season of The Walking Dead, and then, it begins again in the upcoming season of Fear the Walking Dead, pushing the series — and The Walking Dead universe itself — into new directions and possibilities.”
Showrunners and executive producers of Fear the Walking Dead Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg said, “As longtime fans of Lennie James and his portrayal of Morgan Jones, we are thrilled to have him join the cast of Fear the Walking Dead. We look forward to working with Lennie to continue the journey Morgan began on The Walking Dead.”
James stated, “To take Morgan into this new realm and landscape, to see who he could now be, to see where his story could go in the world of Fear the Walking Dead is wonderfully exciting and I am really looking forward to the challenge. My time on The Walking Dead has been a blessing and one of the top working and personal experiences of my life. That cast and crew will have my love, my respect and my deep gratitude until the end of my days.”
Produced by AMC Studios, The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead are currently the No. 1 and No. 4 drama series on cable among adults 18-49 and adults 25-54 in Nielson live+3. Along with the crossover news, there was also an increase in ratings for Sunday’s episode for both The Walking Dead and Talking Dead.
Here are the numbers for The Walking Dead episodes in Season 8 so far:
- Episode 8×01: 11.44 million (5.0)
- Episode 8×02: 8.92 million (4.0)
- Episode 8×03: 8.52 million (3.8)
- Episode 8×04: 8.69 million (3.9)
- Episode 8×05: 7.85 million (3.4)
- Episode 8×06: 8.3 million (3.6)
The Walking Dead currently airs on Sunday nights at 9/8c with Talking Dead following afterwards at 10/9c on AMC.