The new anthology series debuts in August on AMC.
Ahead of its August premiere, the cast and creative team of Tales of the Walking Dead made their San Diego Comic-Con debut to preview what’s to come from the latest spinoff of The Walking Dead.
During a panel hosted by Chris Hardwick, showrunner Channing Powell and stars Terry Crews, Samantha Morton and Danny Ramirez discussed the anthology series and how it fits into the larger AMC zombie universe.
Fans were also treated to a new trailer, giving them an extended look at the six all-new, standalone episodes focused on both new and established characters within the sprawling franchise.
"They thought I was nuts," Crews' character says in the terrifying trailer. "No one thought this could happen. No one ever thinks bad things will happen."
Powell shared that the new series started off as a collection of one-off specials before being compiled into an anthology series. There will be Easter eggs scattered throughout that will allow eagle-eyed fans to connect each story to the existing timelines from the franchise.
Morton is the only carryover from The Walking Dead series, with an episode devoted to further exploring her character, Alpha.
"I was gutted when Alpha died," the actress shared with the audience, adding that she's grateful to have the chance to share a prequel story about her. "This is a role of a lifetime."
Crews, meanwhile, is a massive fan of the franchise, and shared that he was inspired by Night of the Living Dead star Tony Todd when he finally got the chance to join the world himself, as a Black leading hero.
"I've spent years with these characters and it's a dream of mine to be part of this world," he raved. Crews later won the crowd over by adorably fielding a Q&A question from his 17-year-old son, Isaiah!
"I love every member of this cast and crew," the actor said of his episodes. "We did this whole movie in 10 days."
Ramirez shared that, while the series is about zombies on its face, the real focus is on the human moments between the characters: "There are beautiful, small stories to be told in this massive extinction."
In addition to the cast who appeared in-person at Hall H, Tales of the Walking Dead also stars Olivia Munn, Parker Posey, Anthony Edwards, Poppy Liu, Jillian Bell, Loan Chabanol, Embeth Davidtz, Jessie T. Usher and Daniella Pineda.
Ahead of their Comic-Con 2022 appearance, the series debuted its first teaser, showing Posey’s character ready to get the apocalypse “over with.” And based on both the trailer and teaser, this looks to be a very different take on the universe.
Tales of the Walking Dead will debut Aug. 14 with two episodes on AMC. Subsequent episodes will be released weekly on Sundays.
See below for more of Entertainment Tonight’s ongoing coverage of Comic-Con 2022, including the daily schedule and biggest highlights of the weekend:
