Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Fear the Walking Dead season 8, episode 1.Fear the Walking Dead star Lennie James reflects on playing Morgan Jones in the Walking Dead universe for almost 13 years. Morgan first appeared in The Walking Dead series premiere, teaching protagonist Rick Grimes about the Walkers and how to survive in the zombie apocalypse. Currently, Morgan is the protagonist of Fear the Walking Dead, which is now in its final season.
Speaking to CinemaBlend at SCAD TVfest, James reacts to playing Morgan for so long on The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. He mentions how his role on The Walking Dead was supposed to be limited to the series premiere, and that he never expected Morgan’s role to grow so much. Check out what James says below:
Honestly? [It’s] utterly ridiculous. You couldn’t make it up. You couldn’t. If someone had said at the beginning on the first day – because you have to understand, when I did the first episode, that was all I was promised. That was all I signed up for. I didn’t sign up for, ‘I’ll be coming back in two seasons’ time.’ It was ‘We’re doing this one episode. We can promise you nothing more.’ So I went off on my life. That was just a gig I did. I had a huge amount of fun. It was a bucket list tick, because I got to work with Frank Darabont, and that was the end of it.
So if you would say to me at that point [that] Morgan would end up where he is now, I would have said, ‘You’re mad. You’re crazy. You don’t know what you’re talking about. That’s impossible.’ ‘There’s gonna be a spinoff show, and you’re gonna join it in Season 4? It’s not going to happen.’ So I constantly pinch myself, remind myself of how lucky I am, but also don’t forget just how ridiculous the journey of Morgan has been in my life.
How Will Morgan’s Journey On Fear The Walking Dead End?
The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead have both dealt with Morgan wrestling with his morality, switching between his belief that all life is precious to snapping and disregarding all life. Fear the Walking Dead‘s newest mystery involves graffiti he scrawled on the walls of a house in a swamp, possibly connected to his decision to join PADRE and give them his daughter, Mo. It seems Fear the Walking Dead season 8 will see Morgan’s fractured views on the world finally come to a head.
James has previously stated Fear the Walking Dead will end Morgan’s story in The Walking Dead universe. If Fear the Walking Dead season 8 is the last time Morgan appears in the franchise, then it makes sense for him to finally come to terms with his inner turmoil. Promotional material for Fear the Walking Dead season 8 also promises one last battle with PADRE, which may be a final turning point for Morgan’s character.
However, with the zombie franchise expanding through multiple spinoffs later this year, Fear the Walking Dead may not be the end of Morgan’s journey entirely. Morgan has yet to reunite with key characters like Rick and Carol, who were important to his initial development. While Fear the Walking Dead promises an end to Morgan’s wild time in the Walking Dead universe, the door could still be open for his return later down the road.
Source: CinemaBlend
