Fear The Walking Dead Boss Explains Why Season 6 Made Such A Big Format Change

Maggie Grace in Fear The Walking Dead

Over the years, The Walking Dead has gone from a television show to a massive onscreen franchise. The zombie apocalypse will continue on through spinoffs and even movies, with Fear The Walking Dead marking the first side project of this kind. Said spinoff is currently in its whopping sixth season on AMC, with no signs of slowing down. Season 6 of Fear is making a major change to its format, with showrunner Ian Goldberg recently explaining this pivot.

In its sixth season in the air, Fear The Walking is going to be functioning more as an anthology series, with each episode more disconnected from a major overarching plot. This will open new storytelling opportunities up, but it definitely going to be an adjustment for fans who didn't expect such a departure. Showrunner Ian Goldberg opened up about this process alongside fellow showrunner Andrew Chambliss, saying:

It's something that we got really excited with the anthology format. These really are 16 movies. They focus on two or three characters and have their own identity, their own tone, their own world, while at the same time building to a more cumulative narrative like Andrew mentioned. Part of the fun of it is, we can use these episodes as windows into different communities of Virginia, which are their own little worlds unto themselves, and it also allows us to tell these intimate, emotional stories of what our character are going through in these worlds.

Color me intrigued. While Fear The Walking Dead will be making a departure from its usual format, it looks like this change has been energizing for those involved in the zombie drama. And as such, fans will be treated to a different type of storytelling between the all-too-familiar apocalypse. Just how this all shakes out remains to be seen.

Ian Goldberg's comments to DigitalSpy show how much is changing for Fear The Walking Dead in Season 6. The spinoff has consistently presented bold narrative choices throughout the course of its run on AMC. The location and starring cast is constantly changing, with main characters dying even more frequently than the original series. So there's no telling what's in store for this new season of Fear.

Fear The Walking Dead's sixth season started just lat night, with the premiere episode titled "The End Is the Beginning." Ian Goldberg and Andrew Chambliss wrote the episode in addition to serving as showrunners. The episode picked up on Lennie James' Morgan, with the fate of the rest of the starring cast left ambiguous for the time being. And while fans will have to wait before seeing what happened to the other survivors, the Season 6 premiere was a deep dive back into Morgan's POV.

In addition to Fear The Walking Dead, the horror franchise will continue with the main Walking Dead series as well as the new spinoff World Beyond. Additionally, both Rick Grimes and Michonne have the possibility of returning for big screen adventures, as the property continues to grow.

CinemaBlend will keep you updated on all things Fear The Walking Dead as more details become public. In the meantime, check out our fall premiere list to plan your next binge watch.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.