‘The Walking Dead’: Danai Gurira’s Crazy Promise Of The Whisperers

The Walking Dead‘s new villains are going to be scary and deadly but Danai Gurira is promising a worse threat than ever.

To date, the biggest menace to Alexandria’s survivors has been Negan. The villain bashed a few skulls in with his baseball bat and was the reason for several other characters bowing out. However, Negan will pale in comparison to the Whisperers if Michonne actress Gurira’s tease rings true.

“Now, it’s a brand new battle to fight in a whole new way,” Gurira said. “This is not Negan. This is not the Governor. This is a very pernicious group of people.”

More menacing than Negan and the Governor is a dark promise. That said, the Whisperers have already partially proved Gurira’s point. In true villain fashion, they have killed one of The Walking Dead‘s fan-favorite survivors to truly make their presence known.

“The loss of Jesus is pretty massive because it’s shocking,” executive producer Denise Huth said. “No one expects Jesus to be caught off guard. He was just one of those characters who could handle just about anything. Our characters have learned to survive in this world. They’re no longer in a place where they’re losing people all of the time. They’ve figured out to thrive in this world. There are families. There’s growth. There is life. Life is coming back. So, to have someone as vibrant and as full of life and as kind as Jesus be cut down like that, it makes them all vulnerable. “

“It’s the ultimate sacrifice of the soldier in the moment, to protect the others, he lost his life,” showrunner Angela Kang added of Jesus’ death.

Fans of The Walking Dead comics are already familiar with how deadly the Whisperers are. In fact, the group’s body count among named survivors exceeds that of the All Out War story which pitted Rick’s survivors against Negan and the Saviors. Gurira might truly be onto something in promising the Whisperers as being more of a threat than Negan.

The Walking Dead returns for the back half of its ninth season on February 10, 2019 at 9 pm ET. Fear the Walking Dead will return for its fifth season in 2019. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter and watch ComicBook.com’s After The Dead each Sunday night following new episodes.