Here Is What The ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Stars Think You Should Know

There are literally millions of viewers eagerly awaiting the Fear the Walking Dead series premiere, and some of that anticipation has as much to do with confusion about what to expect as it does with sheer excitement to be given a new addition to The Walking Dead franchise. The recent Comic Con panel afforded the Fear the Walking Dead cast and crew an opportunity to reveal what they think is most important to know about the series premiere.

Jump-starting the conversation, the Fear the Walking Dead executive producer took the opportunity to reiterate the fact that fans shouldn’t be expecting a Walking Dead prequel series.

“It takes place prior to when The Walking Dead begins, but it is not a prequel setting up the characters of The Walking Dead,” Gale Anne Hurd said.

Another one of Fear the Walking Dead‘s executive producers, David Alpert, was quick to agree with Ms. Hurd’s assessment, adding that, likewise, Fear the Walking Dead is not a spin-off in the strictest sense either.

“It’s a highly different set of characters and it’s a highly different set of locations,” Alpert said. “There’s no overlap between the two worlds except that it’s the same rules, the same stakes, and it treats the characters in the same weight and seriousness that we do on The Walking Dead.”

Alycia Debnam-Carey, who plays Alicia Clark in the series, finds that Fear the Walking Dead‘s greatest quality is that it will be easily accessible to newcomers and to those who are not necessarily fans of the primary Walking Dead series.

“You don’t need to know anything about The Walking Dead to really get into this show,” the Fear the Walking Dead actress explained. “You don’t have to have watched the original. It’s coming from a very different place, a very different time, it’s before everything happened, so it’s completely refreshing and different.”

Mercedes Mason, who will play Ofelia Salazar in the series, was most impressed with the series pilot, saying that the Fear the Walking Dead premiere episode is really worth the weight.

“It will suck you in,” Ms. Mason said. “The world is amazing. I’ve actually never seen a pilot where literally I looked back any everyone was on the edge of their seat with their eyes wide.”

The premiere episode of Fear the Walking Dead will air on Sunday, August 23, on AMC.

[Featured image courtesy of AMC/Fear the Walking Dead]