Remember last year, when it was reported that Lorenzo Henrie had been cast in Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD? And how we had a sneaky feeling what that might mean for Fear The Walking Dead? A feeling that was later proved entirely correct?

We have that feeling again.

Cliff Curtis, who plays post-apocalyptic dad and frequently bad person Travis on Fear The Walking Dead has been cast in the Avatar sequels. All of them. The ones that will be filmed across the next four years. He’ll play Tonowari, who is the leader of the Metkayina, a clan who live in and around the reefs of Pandora.

It’s an interesting decision for all sorts of reasons. Firstly, Curtis is great and will bring a lot to those movies. Secondly, the confirmation he’s in all four sequels pretty much confirms James Cameron’s comment some time ago about the sequels having extensive underwater sequences.

Most interestingly, it may mean his time on Fear The Walking Dead is running out.

We don’t know the logistics of the filming for the Avatar sequels. The simple fact that Zoe Saldana in particular has a busy career suggests not everyone will be required on set all the time solidly for four years. It’s also likely that many cast members who aren’t front of camera a lot will film their entire performance for all four movies in one block. That would certainly mean Curtis could have a few months on-set shooting the movie, then return to FTWD.

But…

The second season ended in almost the darkest place possible. Travis had failed Chris, his son had died terrified and alone and Travis’s only response was to beat to death the men responsible, instantly exiling his family from the first safe haven they’d found since the outbreak.

Travis is not having a good time. And the last person who had a time this bad? Was Chris.

It would make a lot of sense to keep him. Curtis is a name, he’s a great presence in the cast and Travis’s redemption arc would be gripping stuff. But killing him off would throw FTWD onto a very dark, very interesting path. One that it’s flirted with before and may need to commit to in order to survive. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see how big a role Curtis has towards the end of the third season. Or indeed, if Travis makes it out of the season at all…

Fear The Walking Dead returns 5 June on AMC in the UK, available exclusively through BT.

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