Fear The Walking Dead director and executive producer Michael E. Satrazemis has discussed fan theories surrounding the return of character Madison Clark.
Clark, played by Kim Dickens, exited the show in its fourth season, which aired in 2018.
With the zombie spin-off now on its sixth season, rumours have begun circling from fans, believing that Clark is set for a shock return to the show. A social media campaign called #BringBackMadison has also been launched.
“You can’t [ignore fan reactions],” Responding to fan theories that Clark is still alive on the Talk Dead to Me podcast, Satrazemis said: “You can’t [ignore fan reactions]. I mean, I have an Instagram and I put out a photo every episode to thank people and you get responses. So I read them, I try not to take things too hard one way or the other, and everyone’s really pretty pleasant.”
He added: “I do get the people that will say ‘bring Madison back’ five times in a row,” the directing producer said, referencing the #BringBackMadison campaign on social media. “There’s a huge group and she’s a very important and strong character and I get it. I understand, but all of it’s kind of flattering to me.”
“I think if we can elicit strong emotions from people, that’s what we’re trying to do as creators. That’s the majority of what I’m doing is trying to create emotions and keep people attached to humanity and make people feel things,” Satrazemis added.
“I don’t necessarily care what emotion I create. I would love to make everyone happy all the time, but that’s not how stories work, especially in the apocalypse.”
Season six of the long-running spin-off of The Walking Dead has been split into two parts due to production delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic – read the NME review of part one here and part two here.
Reviewing season 6b of Fear The Walking Dead, NME wrote: “Questions over Fear’s purpose in The Walking Dead’s wider TV universe remain unaddressed, but for now this spinoff has bounced back with its most impactful and gratifying experience since season four.
“Whether it chooses to evolve from here or sink back into the same cycle will prove the real test.”
