At last, we no longer have to call it the Walking Dead companion series! On Friday, Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman made it official and announced his new AMC series’ name via Twitter: Fear The Walking Dead. See above for the spinoff’s companion series’ logo.

Up to this point, AMC has been referring to Fear The Walking Dead as a “companion series” as opposed to a “spinoff” because while the new show takes place in the same zombie apocalyptic universe as featured in The Walking Dead, it features a brand new cast and it’s set in a distinctly different location (Los Angeles, not Atlanta). Click over to this post for more details.

And don’t forget! The Walking Dead airs its 90-minute (!) fifth season finale this Sunday night at 9pm on AMC.

Update (3/29): “There’s a strange virus” going around in the first promo for Fear The Walking Dead which made its debut tonight during the season finale of The Walking Dead. The trailer backs up what Kirkman said before:

“From the beginning of the show one thing we’ve heard is, ‘What’s going on over here or there.’ So the intent of the new show is to expand that world and show another corner of the United States and what’s happening there. The timeline is taking place a little bit earlier timeframe than the original show. Rick Grimes woke up from a coma and was like, ‘Oh, man, zombies, weird!’ We’re going to possibly see that unfold a little more in the other show. But I wouldn’t call it ‘prequel’ because the entirety of the show is not going take place before [The Walking Dead]. It will eventually form a path running concurrently.”

Sounds like we’re going to get more insight on how the zombie outbreak unfolded in its early days. Plus, those visuals of cells dividing might be a hint that we’re also going to learn more about the virus and its origins. These are topics mostly untouched by the comics and the flagship TV series. This is pure speculation, of course, but the possibilities are exciting. Watch the promo after the break. Fear premieres this summer on AMC.

[Via TVLine] Continue reading Robert Kirkman confirms ‘Walking Dead’ companion series title [Update: First promo inside] →