'The Walking Dead' Mid-Season 9 Premiere: Adaptation

The Walking Dead will air its Mid-Season Nine premiere this Sunday night on AMC.

The Walking Dead Episode 9x09 is titled, "Adaptation." The official synopsis for Adaptation reads, "The group unmasks a disturbing and dangerous new thread. An escaped captive revisits his past."

The AMC zombie series ended off on a dark note with its final episode for 2018 in the form of the Mid-Season Nine finale. In the episode, Paul "Jesus" Rovia became the first known victim of the Whisperers when the villainous group made their presence known. The character was slain by a human covered in walker flesh, walking among the dead until he pulled out a sword to strike his enemy. Moving forward, the Whisperers will be a threat unlike any on The Walking Dead before them.

The survivors and series will quite literally "unmask" this new foe, learning that living people are blending in with the dead to use them as weapons and disguise themselves for attacks. Coming up, Samantha Morton will be revealed as the actress behind Whisperer leader Alpha and her second in command among the group by the name of Beta is being portrayed by Sons of Anarchy and Remember the Titans alum Ryan Hurst.

"I'm really excited about the cast we have," The Walking Dead showrunner Kang explained to ComicBook.com. "Samantha Morton and Ryan Hurst as Alpha and Beta. I just think they brought so much energy and intensity already to the process, like in such a great way. And I think we get to tell a bit of a story that is sort of a mystery. I think in many ways they're the most formidable group that we've come across because they have the power of zombies behind them. So that's something that I'm really excited for people to see."

Fans of Robert Kirkman's comics have a pretty good idea of what to expect from the villains as they develop on the series -- and it's going to be deadly.

As the focus of The Walking Dead shifts back to threats being presented by walkers and villains who disguise themselves as walkers, the AMC series is getting back to its horror genre roots. For executive producer Greg Nicotero, this is an exciting and important element. "The show really hasn't been scary for a while," Nicotero admits to ComicBook.com. "I mean, it just wasn't necessarily in the DNA. The last few seasons, there was a lot more of the drama of the war between Rick and Negan, the Sanctuary and our good guys, so to speak."

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.