Many viewers have insisted that Madison Clark’s return was imminent even after her apparent death back in Season 4 of Fear the Walking Dead.
While the series showrunners have been tight-lipped over the years, it was announced back in December that not only would Fear the Walking Dead would be renewed for Season 8 but that Madison would also make a comeback.
Now, as viewers tune into the return of Season 7, they are eagerly anticipating when the character will return.
However, according to the showrunners, Madison’s return was planned out already by them years ago.
Madison Clark is set to return in Season 7B
Madison’s comeback was announced alongside the Season 8 renewal; it was confirmed via a trailer and a new image that Madison is definitely making her arrival known in Season 7.
As for when that happens remains to be seen, and so far, all fans know is she didn’t show up in the Season 7B premiere.
However, a recent interview with Insider has confirmed that Madison’s return was definitely in the cards for years.
“We started talking about it seasons ago, the possibility that Madison could have survived the stadium and, if so, what that story would look like,” showrunner Ian Goldberg revealed to Insider via Zoom recently.
The showrunners insist that they were always looking for the perfect time to bring Madison back.
“In terms of like a story idea, it’s something that we had been talking about seasons ago, but we never quite had the story or the way into it,” Andrew Chambliss said.
“And we were just kind of then looking for the right way to bring her back and the right story to a tell — kind of the place in the show where it would make sense, where the thematics would support it, where everything would kind of come together.”
While they may have had a vague notion of bringing the character back to Fear the Walking Dead, it wasn’t until the end of Season 6 that they truly felt the storyline was coming together for the Madison reveal.
Once this was decided, they contacted Scott Gimple, the Chief Content Officer for The Walking Dead universe.
Then, fellow cast member, Colman Domingo, reached out personally to Kim Dickens, to check in with the actor and see if she was willing to return.
Obviously, she was.
Fans helped in the decision to bring Madison back
Along with the showrunners’ decision to have Madison return, they also acknowledged the fact that it was the viewers’ dedication to this character that sealed her fate.
Once again, though, it came down to making sure Madison returned at the right time, even with fans guiding their decision.
“As we were having those conversations and things started to point to an opening for her return, it definitely felt like this was a story that fans would like and be excited about and that got us excited, too. I think the thing that we’re excited about is bringing Madison back,” Chambliss said.
Season 7 of Fear the Walking Dead airs every Sunday night on AMC.