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Take A Walk On The Wild Side: 'Fear The Walking Dead' Wanted To Make Madison Into The Villain

Warning: possible spoilers for Fear The Walking Dead.

By Tom ChapmanPublished 6 years ago 2 min read
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'Fear The Walking Dead' [Credit: AMC]

As AMC's Fear The Walking Dead heads off to Houston after a much-improved Season 3, there are big changes on the horizon for the sister to Scott Gimple's The Walking Dead. For those who didn't already know, the two-part finale marked the end of the road for not only some of our characters, but for showrunner #Dave #Erikson.

While a new era of #FearTheWalkingDead will be ushered in under Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg, Erikson has been more than happy to share what his plans would have been if he'd stayed on, and also how he would've ended the show. Spoilers, with a twist in the tale, it was going to involve a long and villainous story arc for #KimDickens as Madison Clark.

This Is A Woman's World

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Erickson revealed how he tipped the blonde bombshell as his very own Negan — sans baseball bat — and how Madison would be the last (wo)man standing:

"The thing that's interesting to me, and one of the questions I asked myself and asked Robert Kirkman very on was of the people in our group, who do you see becoming the Governor? Of our group, who could become a Negan? That's interesting to me, to watch an evolution of a character and start with them as a hero, and bleed that into antihero, and bleed that into full-on villain. It would have been interesting. In terms of the final conflict within the family, it would have been key. For me, there's a lot left for Madison specifically."

The world of #RobertKirkman's living vs the dead has never been as simple as heroes and villains. Fear often asks its audience to question the motives of characters like Troy Otto and Strand, however, up until now, Madison has been a veritable golden girl (murderous streak aside). That being said, after bludgeoning Troy to death in the finale, it seems that Bad Mad is already what the show is leaning toward.

Sure, Troy was a bad kid, but I don't think anyone was expecting the happy homemaker to ditch stuffing the Christmas turkey and start bashing brains in for a living. Madison "the villain" is an interesting strand that the incoming showrunners could easily pick back up. Also, with the news of that The Walking Dead/Fear crossover, it could be the start of many more. Who knows, a future Madison could even be the main show's post-Negan villain — the even more unhinged Alpha.

Over the years, we have seen The Walking Dead tread into some morally shady territory with a few of its characters. Notably, the likes of Carol Peletier and Rick Grimes have never been afraid to get their hands dirty for "the greater good," and there is still a big question mark hanging over the actions of Eugene jumping ship to the Saviors. However, branding the lead of Fear as a villain — well, that would be a bold step in a very different direction.

Ironically, Scott Gimple will now be serving as an EP on Fear, so who is to say Madison's Anakin Skywalker move the dark side won't continue as planned? Given that Gimple gave us the violent swansong years of David Morrissey as the Governor, our tasty trip to Terminus, and the ongoing Negan saga, he sure knows how to make a villain pop. As for Madison, it will be a game of wait and see, but as the de facto Rick Grimes of the group, don't expect her to be going anywhere anytime soon. Could this be a case of something wicked this way comes?

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About the Creator

Tom Chapman

Tom is a Manchester-based writer with square eyes and the love of a good pun. Raised on a diet of Jurassic Park, this ’90s boy has VHS flowing in his blood. No topic is too big for this freelancer by day, crime-fighting vigilante by night.

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