'The Walking Dead' Showrunner Teases How The Whisperers Will Affect Season 9

The first half of The Walking Dead's (mostly) tremendous ninth season concluded with a terrifying twist, killing staple character Jesus and introducing the series' newest villains, The Whisperers.

When the series returns next month, a lot of the focus will shift to The Whisperers, a group of people who have reverted to the savage ways of their ancestors and live amongst the dead. As we saw in the midseason finale, these villains wear walker skin over top of their own in order to blend in.

During a recent interview with EW, Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang teased what's to come when The Whisperers arrive in full, and how they will affect the lives of the protagonists.

"Well, the second half of season 9, we really dive deeper into the story of the Whisperers," Kang said. "At the end of the first half, obviously, we get this reveal that these zombies are not evolving, that they are some sort of strange human threat. We'll get to know more about this group and their brutal survival of the fittest philosophy and how that really plays out in horrifying ways.

"We will get to meet the amazing Samantha Morton as Alpha and Ryan Hurst as Beta, as our heroes are really grappling with how to deal with a threat that's unlike anything they've ever faced with people with such a different philosophy. They're also just trying to figure out how they need to interact with each other in this world as they face more and more problems and challenges related to both this new threat and some of the other obstacles that they face in this world. We'll continue to see the effects that nature has on our people, as things start to break down and they deal with the problems that come up as a result of these things."

Not only will we see the threat that these horrifying villains possess, but we will also get the chance to learn about how they live and operate.

"Part of the story will reveal — pretty early on in the back half of the season — the way that Alpha thinks and the way that she moves about the world," Kang added. I think what is really interesting about them is that to put on the skin of a dead person and walk around in the world and walk around amidst walkers, that really takes a certain kind of a person."

Are you looking forward to The Whisperers arriving when The Walking Dead returns? Let us know in the comments!