A few days after the first trailer for season 10 debuted at Comic-Con, AMC has now dropped this official plot rundown of what fans can expect from the next outing of The Walking Dead.
The extended synopsis teases that things will pick up after the harsh winter seen in the season 9 finale, with the assembled communities forced to do as the Whisperers tell them. However, in secret, they’re planning for battle. But will their own internal problems destroy them first?
The Walking Dead is a story that started 10 years ago with one man trying to find his family. That family grew and gradually communities took shape. They fought and survived, thrived and gave birth to a new generation. It is a tale of humankind and there are more stories to tell.
It is now Spring, a few months after the end of Season 9, when our group of survivors dared to cross into Whisperer territory during the harsh winter. The collected communities are still dealing with the after effects of Alpha’s horrific display of power, reluctantly respecting the new borderlines being imposed on them, all while organizing themselves into a militia-style fighting force, preparing for a battle that may be unavoidable.
But the Whisperers are a threat unlike any they have ever faced. Backed by a massive horde of the dead it is seemingly a fight they cannot win. The question of what to do and the fear it breeds will infect the communities and give rise to paranoia, propaganda, secret agendas, and infighting that will test them as individuals and as a society. The very idea of whether civilization can survive in a world filled with the dead hangs in the balance.
The basic premise of this season should be familiar to fans as it’s similar to the set-up of season 8, with the Alexandrians and co. under the thumb of a villain introduced the previous season but preparing to get the better of them. In this case, though, the foe is no longer Negan but Alpha (Samantha Morton) and her walker skin-wearing cronies.
The villain hit our heroes where it hurt in the penultimate episode of season 9 and it sounds like they still aren’t over the deep losses they experienced (R.I.P. Henry, Tara, Enid, etc). At least they’ll have Michonne around to lead the fight longer than we thought. Danai Gurira is confirmed to exit the show this season, but evidence suggests she’ll be appearing long into the 16-part run.
As for new additions to the cast, Thora Birch (American Beauty) is signing up as Gamma, one of the Whisperers, while The Leftovers‘ Kevin Carroll plays Virgil, a “resourceful” survivor who is “desperate to get home.” Also expect Dante, a character from the comics, to show up in season 10. EP Angela Kang described him as a “roguish, fast-talking, sometimes charming, sometimes annoying guy.”
Watch out for The Walking Dead season 10 when it kicks off on AMC from Sunday, October 6th.