‘The Walking Dead’ Casts Samantha Morton as Alpha

The Walking Dead has cast actress Samantha Morton to play the show’s next big villain.

Robert Kirkman confirmed that Alpha, the leader of the Whisperers, would appear on Season 9 of the hit AMC show. In the comics, the Whisperers disguise themselves as zombies and quickly come into conflict with Rick Grimes and the other Alexandria residents.

Alpha is the leader of the Whisperers and is known for her almost emotionless cruelty, believing it to be the new way of the world. She mocks the Alexandrian survivors for sticking to a “pretend” way of life, referencing their attempt at normalcy, and then threatens them to stay away from her and her people. Using the zombie skins, the Whisperers also have a massive horde of zombies at their disposal, which we also saw at the end of Season 8.

Samantha Morton is an experienced actress with over 20 years of experience. Morton’s first breakout hit was as the precog Agatha in Minority Report, and she’s also appeared in movies like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and John Carter. She’s also currently starring in the Hulu series Harlots.

We’ve seen hints that the Whisperers would be appearing on The Walking Dead soon. In Season 8, the show showed a zombie with his skin ripped off, perhaps after a Whisperer used it as a costume. The Season 8 finale also had several scenes with fence posts, a possible reference to an infamous scene in which the Whisperers kill several members of the Alexandria community and leave their heads on poles. One has to wonder, given Andrew Lincoln’s pending exit from the show, if we could see Rick’s head on a pole before Season 9 is over.

The new season of The Walking Dead will premiere on October 7th of this year. You can check out the first trailer of the new season up above.