Nadia Hilker has been revealed as Magna, one of the many new faces joining The Walking Dead in season 9.
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Hilker can be spotted in the just-released San Diego Comic-Con trailer as part of a newly encountered group of survivors.
Hilker portrayed Luna on The CW series The 100 and played Nita in 2016’s Allegiant, where she co-starred alongside Shailene Woodley and Theo James.
In Robert Kirkman’s comic book series, Magna is introduced in issue #127 — the beginning of the ‘A New Beginning’ arc, picking up roughly two years after ‘All Out War’ and Rick Grimes’ defeat of Negan and the toppling of the Saviors.
Magna headed a group comprised of Yumiko, Magna’s girlfriend, couple Connie and Kelly, and Luke. The pack of survivors were first spotted in the surrounding area of Washington D.C. and were rescued by Jesus of the Hilltop before later integrating into the Alexandria Safe-Zone.
The character was later confirmed to be in a romantic relationship with Yumiko, who in the comics is Japanese-American. On Monday, ComicBook.com was the first to reveal Wonder Woman and Into the Badlands actress Eleanor Matsuura would be joining the series as Yumiko.
Hilker and Matsuura board a refreshed season 9 alongside series newcomers Dan Fogle (Fantastic Beasts), Zach McGowan (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Rhys Coiro (Ray Donovan), Brett Butler (Grace Under Fire), John Finn (NCIS), Lauren Ridloff (Children of a Lesser God) and dancer and choreographer Angel Theory.
“We have some really cool new characters for comic book fans, you’ll get to see some familiar faces,” new season 9 showrunner Angela Kang said at The Walking Dead‘s Comic-Con panel Friday.
“We are opening a new chapter of the story,” Kang told THR of the new direction of the long-running series.
“[Executive producer and former showrunner] Scott Gimple has said Season Eight really closed one chapter of the show, and Season Nine is a new chapter. So, to come in to the showrunner role at that point is exciting. We’re jumping forward in time, so we get to play with the look and the feel of the show. Both from a technical level — we reviewed the filming style and continue to shoot on film — but also in terms of the way the stories and the things look onscreen. And what we’re seeing is a little bit different.
“We’re seeing the world start to break down around our characters a bit more. They run into challenges, with things like the infrastructure breaking down around them and things that they used to scavenge being in much shorter supply. We get to see a world where they’re not relying on unstable gas that’s hard to find; they are taming horses; they’re pulling wagons; they’re fashioning more hand weapons so they don’t have to rely on bullets as much. That’s been really fun. We get to play while staying true to the principles of The Walking Dead that people love. It’s a new era in terms of where our characters are at and the challenges they’re facing.”
The Walking Dead returns to AMC Sunday, October 7.
