Fear the Walking Dead season 4 will welcome Garret Dillahunt in an as-yet undisclosed role after the series brought season 3 to an explosive end that left the fates of several main characters up in the air. The open ended nature of the finale acted as a soft reboot of sorts, as exiting showrunner Dave Erickson made way for incoming team of Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg, who are reportedly set to shift locales to Houston, following new villain Proctor John (Ray McKinnon), as he and his crew attempt make a go of it in what’s left of the fallen city.
Dillahunt’s addition is the first big piece of news to come from the series following Erickson’s departure, and considering just how thoroughly Fear thinned its ranks during season 3 – eliminating Cliff Curtis’ Travis Manawa and Mercedes Mason’s Ofelia, as well as the entire Otto clan – now is definitely the time for the show to restock its zombie feed stores. And with Kim Dickens’ Madison the only member of the original cast confirmed to have survived ‘Sleigh Ride’, bringing Dillahunt on board adds another readily recognizable face to the cast, as well as a versatile actor.
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News of the casting was first reported by THR, which says that Dillahunt’s role will see him as a season 4 regular, so fans can expect to see plenty of him when the Walking Dead prequel series premieres in 2018.
It’s a busy time for Dillahunt, as he’s currently appearing on FOX’s X-Men series The Gifted as Dr. Roderick Campbell, a role that sees the actor show off his dark side by controlling the Hounds to help the government hunt down members of the Mutant Underground. It’s a stark contrast to some of his more recent TV work, like The Mindy Project, which put him in full romantic comedy mode as Dr. Jody Kimball-Kinney opposite series creator Mindy Kaling. He’s also been seen in everything from HBO’s acclaimed Deadwood, FX’s Justified, No Country For Old Men, Looper, 12 Years a Slave, and many more films and television shows.
Right now, there are many questions swirling around Dillahunt’s casting, not the least of which is what sort of character he’ll be playing when Fear the Walking Dead season 4 rolls around. Given his flexibility as a performer, he could be playing anything from a new villain to a romantic interest for Madison to an associate of Michael Cudlitz’s Abraham, who is rumored to be appearing in the season as part of The Walking Dead crossover that was announced earlier this year. It also raises some questions as to Dillahunt’s continued participation on The Gifted. So far, Dr. Campbell has only appeared intermittently, which means, given the lighter demands of that role, Dillahunt could hypothetically still participate in both series. Since he’s managed to appear in a number of film and television projects this year alone suggests the actor likes to keep his dance card full, so perhaps The Gifted won’t be without its resident evil doctor should it continue on into season 2.
Fear the Walking Dead season 4 is expected to premiere in 2018 on AMC.
Source: THR