‘The Walking Dead’ Season 9B Poster Released

AMC has released a new poster for the remaining half of The Walking Dead Season Nine via IGN.

The art sees woodsman Daryl (Norman Reedus), Kingdom queen Carol (Melissa McBride) and stoic Alexandrian leader Michonne (Danai Gurira) ready to face their newest threat as the Whisperers lurk behind, led by the unforgiving Alpha (Samantha Morton) and her vicious number two Beta (Ryan Hurst).

“Season 9 finds our groups of survivors, both old and new, continuing to deal with the impact of events that took place during the six years that have passed. Since the disappearance of Rick (Andrew Lincoln), many of these characters have become strangers to each other, and in some ways, strangers to themselves,” reads the official synopsis for the back half of the season.

“What they do know is that they are in undeniable danger. They will soon realize the world just beyond does not operate as they thought. The group’s rules and ways of survival no longer guarantee their safety. A whole new threat has crossed their paths, and they soon discover it’s unlike any threat they have encountered or endured before. The group will start to question what they think they see. What may appear to be normal in this post-apocalyptic world could actually be more disturbing and terrifying than when the apocalypse first broke out. All that is certain is the stakes are high and numerous.”

That new threat — a sizable group of cult-like barbarians who wear the skinned flesh of the dead, both to disguise themselves from walkers and deceive their human prey — will drive the conflict in the back eight of Season Nine, also set to explore the mysteries surrounding the schism that split the group and caused the subsequent tensions between Alexandria and the Hilltop, who must now navigate a way forward without freshly killed interim leader Jesus (Tom Payne).

Showrunner Angela Kang previously confirmed flashbacks will detail events that occurred during the six-year time jump that followed Rick’s “death,” some of which will involve Jesus and offer more explanations surrounding Maggie’s quiet exit from Hilltop.

Also to be revealed are answers about the matching ‘X’ scars spotted on both Michonne and Daryl, which star-turned-director Michael Cudlitz teased is a “really f—ed up story.”

“It’s a big, really f—ed up thing that happened during that break. At some point, we will find out about it,” Cudlitz said. “You will find out eventually what that is. It was bad.”

Added Kang, “They have obviously, in the six years that have passed, faced some probably human foes that have affected the way that they deal with new people and their level of trust. It’s definitely something that we’ll learn more about as the year goes on.”

AThe Walking Dead Season Nine returns to AMC with new episodes Sunday, February 10.