Comic-Con 2015: Talking THE WALKING DEAD Season 6 with Scott M. Gimple, Gale Anne Hurd, and Lennie James

Following The Walking Dead Hall H panel yesterday at Comic-Con, I joined a small group of journalists for an interview session with the Season 6 cast and creators. For the first part of my interviews, I have quotes from Scott M. Gimple on the lack of Andrea in Alexandria, Lennie James talking about Morgan stirring things up, and Gale Anne Hurd teasing that the Season 6 premiere has more walkers in a single episode than we've ever seen before.

Andrea is gone from The Walking Dead TV series, but she's a major part of The Walking Dead comic book series, past the events of The Governor, and especially in Alexandria. Showrunner Scott M. Gimple promises that her traits and importance will be spread among other characters on the TV series:

"Comic book-wise, Andrea is still one of the most important characters in the book. We have that vacancy on the show, and I do think a lot of Andrea's aspects are going to be shared among a lot of characters, and not just female characters."

He also talked about the theme of Season 6 and how it will play out over the 16 episodes:

"Something that's said in this convention center is 'With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility'. These survivors are incredibly seasoned, and they know how to survive. Having gotten to Alexandria, they are under a degree of safety, and Alexandria in many ways is safer because of them being there. So, what's next? Do they have a responsibility to the future with these people, in these place?

They have walls, a home, and beds. What do they do? It can't just be about survival now and Season 6 is a journey toward that for a lot of characters."

Gale Anne Hurd teased that there will be more walkers in the first episode of Season 6 than any other episode in the series, and stressed that this is part of the evolving story:

"We're at that point in the series, where the cast expands, but there are more walkers... by far than there are human survivors. We've never really seen just how big they are and it was really important to not just do it with CGI. It wasn't just supersizing it because this is Season 6, it really was servicing the story. The whole season has that scope, because it has naturally gone there."

For those who have seen the trailer, you'll know that Morgan is going to be a big part of the tension between the residents of Alexandria and Rick's group. Lennie James touches upon Morgan's position during our chat:

"The thing that is exciting me is sometimes the most incendiary thing you can do is to take a position of peace. In some ways, Morgan is going to stir things up by taking a passive position. That's going to fly in the face of a few people's ideas of how you survive in this world. He's going to offer an alternative that's not going to necessarily in the way he hopes or expects it to land."

Check back soon for more from the cast and creators of The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead. Until then, here's the Season 6 trailer and release details for those that missed it yesterday:

"AMC announced today from Comic-Con International that “The Walking Dead” season six will premiere Sunday, October 11th at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT with an extended 90-minute episode. As in previous seasons, the show’s sixth season of 16 episodes will air in two parts, with the first eight episodes kicking off October 11th and the final eight returning February 2016....

...Internationally, “The Walking Dead” will return to audiences in 125+ FOX International Channels (FIC) markets within 24 hours of the U.S. premiere, as part of FIC’s continued commitment to broadcast the series near day-and-date globally."