Fear The Walking Deads Lennie James Is Excited To Take On New Zombie Variants

Fear the Walking Dead star Lennie James says he's ready to fight the faster new undead variants, and explains why he is eager for their arrival.

Fear the Walking Dead star Lennie James is excited at the possibility of facing a dangerous new zombie variant. The AMC series, which first premiered in 2015 as a spin-off to The Walking Dead, has received mostly positive reactions from fans and critics, and proven to be a relative success for the franchise, boasting the highest-rated season 1 of any cable series. Fear the Walking Dead seasons 1 to 3 observed the struggles of a blended family amidst the chaos caused by the start of the zombie apocalypse, with season 4 and onward running parallel to the original show. It also featured the crossover of James, initially part of The Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead franchise expanded further in 2020 with the limited series The Walking Dead: World Beyond. In a post-credits scene following its finale, a scientist is killed by a man who accuses her and her associates of worsening the outbreak. As a result, she becomes a kind of zombie, one that is faster and stronger, while Dr. Edwin Jenner (Noah Emmerich) issues a message about the undead variants overseas. The addition of variants changes The Walking Dead completely, as Jenner asserts they are unlike anything seen before, which makes them dangerous threats to James' Morgan Jones and everyone else.

Recently, James opened up about Fear the Walking Dead and the presence of new zombie variants (via ComicBook.com). The actor expressed his excitement at the idea of facing these zombies, saying that he has been "waiting" a long time for them to gain some more pace. James explained that regular walkers in the Walking Dead universe "only move fast when you're not looking," and that he looks forward to killing the new, faster ones. Read James' quote about the future of these zombies in Fear the Walking Dead below:

"I can't wait! I'm like, 'bring it on.' I've been waiting for walkers to catch up for years. I stand there, wait for them to come, stick a stick out, wait for another one to come, back in the head. I want them running at me so I can swing and take them all out at speed."

The ending of The Walking Dead: World Beyond has lasting implications for both Fear the Walking Dead and the original series, set to conclude in 2022. Not only do characters face new threats in the variant walkers, but fans finally have an understanding of the outbreak's origin. In a new update, The Walking Dead's apocalyptic zombie virus appears to have been man-made. This revelation gave fans of the franchise an answer to one of the most speculated-on questions in the Walking Dead universe. Not much else has been revealed about this, however, which opens the door for more exploration in the future.

After many seasons of Fear the Walking Dead, fans will likely be just as excited as James at the arrival of enhanced zombies for the show's characters to fight off. Audiences have not responded as well to recent Fear the Walking Dead seasons, noting stiffness in its story and poorly-developed characters. Introducing a new element, especially one that many have been eager to see for years, can perhaps serve the series well. Fans will get a chance to see how the new zombie variants affect the show when Fear the Walking Dead returns with what's set to be a much more fast-paced and action-packed season.