'The Walking Dead' Spinoff News: Plot Will Be Completely Different From Original Series, Says Creator Robert Kirkman

Expectations are high for the "The Walking Dead" spinoff which is currently being filmed. The first season of the show, which has the working title "Fear the Walking Dead," is due to premiere on AMC in the Fall while its second season will begin in 2016.

The executive producers of the new series Robert Kirkman and David Alpert said the spinoff would examine how the zombie epidemic started. However, they said the spinoff would be completely independent from the main show.

Speaking at SXSW in Austin, Kirkman said the spinoff would not be based on the books. Kirkman is the creator of "The Walking Dead" comics from which the main TV series is based.

He said fans would not be able to compare the events and places in the spinoff to anything in the books, something they have been doing since the beginning of the main series.

He said in the spinoff, the original series would only be mentioned for a mere six seconds.

Kirkman also provided more information about the characters in the spinoff series and how they will be dealing with issues when the zombie epidemic begins. He said the audience will identify with the characters whose portrayals will be nuanced and detailed.

As for the timeline of the spinoff, Kirkman indicated that the show is going to examine how the zombie epidemic started – something which was not seen when "The Walking Dead" series began. In the first episode of Season One, action started right away after Rick woke up from a coma to find that zombies had taken over and his family was missing.

Kirkman said the spinoff will catch up with the timeline in the main show and will eventually run parallel to it. This could mean that the spinoff might feature some crossover characters from "The Walking Dead." Kirkman did not provide any hint about any crossover characters though.