'Fear the Walking Dead' First Photos of Morgan Hint to Big Time Jump (and Good News?)

So ... Morgan might survive "The Walking Dead" Season 8 after all?

"Fear the Walking Dead." Fans still don't quite understand how the timelines and locations will line up, but speculation left Morgan dying at some point later in TWD Season 8 and appearing in "Fear" as a prequel. Since "Fear" started covering the beginning of this "walker" apocalypse, it made sense that Morgan's "Fear" scenes would be flashbacks of a sort to a time before "The Walking Dead" Season 5.

But now it looks like "Fear" Season 4 -- which premieres April 15, right after the TWD Season 8 finale -- might catch up to the main show's current timeline. Because new first look "Fear" photos from Entertainment Weekly show Morgan with his fighting staff. If that is the same stick he got from Eastman in TWD Season 6, the crossover must be happening after "The Walking Dead" Season 8. Right?

Here are the photos:
And here's a photo added later, of Morgan with new character Althea, played by Maggie Grace:

Maggie Grace as Althea, Lennie James as Morgan Jones - Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 4, Episode 1 - Photo Credit: Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC" data-caption="Fear The Walking Dead (2018)

Maggie Grace as Althea, Lennie James as Morgan Jones - Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 4, Episode 1 - Photo Credit: Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC" data-credit="Richard Foreman/AMC" src="http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/9236f3a078d397c71c167d39470919d7/206031926/morgan-althea-twd.jpg" data-mep="2365807" data-provider="other" data-provider-asset-id="206031926" />Fans in the EW comments were left with a lot of questions about Morgan's timeline. Here's one fan with some potential answers, if they turn out to be correct:

Morgan has his sharped staff from Eastman, meaning that we can now basically confirm that the crossover will take place after the events of Season 8 of #TheWalkingDead. #FearTWD will presumably have a massive time jump.

— The Walking Dead World (@TWalkingDWorld) January 10, 2018

If I had to guess, Morgan will be given the "pirate Michonne" arc from the comics, allowing him to disappear for a while in #TheWalkingDead and have his story told in #FearTWD.

— The Walking Dead World (@TWalkingDWorld) January 10, 2018

This may open the door to the characters of #FearTWD eventually making their way to the Virginia area, possibly linking up with the characters of #TheWalkingDead.

— The Walking Dead World (@TWalkingDWorld) January 10, 2018

We'll see. "The Walking Dead" Season 8 -- still including Morgan -- returns from winter break on Sunday, Feb. 25. "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 4 premieres Sunday, April 15, directly following the "Walking Dead" Season 8 finale.

"Fear" returns with two new showrunners in Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg. The whole franchise -- TWD, "Fear," and whatever else shows up -- now has a new Chief Content Officer overseeing everything in Scott M. Gimple. He's leaving as showrunner of TWD in Season 9, with AMC giving the fourth showrunner title to longtime TWD writer Angela Kang.

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