The Walking Dead season 8 reached its thrilling finale last night, bringing the long-running conflict with Negan and his Saviors to a close. So, what’s the logical next step for the series, then? Well, those who’ve read Robert Kirkman’s comic books might have an idea. After the “All-Out War” wrapped in the source material, the next major threat Rick and his friends faced was the twisted community known as the Whisperers.
But what are the chances of the group appearing in season 9 of the TV show? ComicBook.com asked star Andrew Lincoln about that and the man who’s played Rick Grimes for the past eight years revealed that, while he hasn’t read about it in the comics, he is familiar with the Whisperers and would be interested to see them in the series.
“I haven’t actually read that in the comic book. I didn’t get that far with the Whisperers. I know that they skin zombies and wear them and that’s the deal. They move through the land looking like the undead but they’re talking, whispering. That’s super cool.”
Lincoln went on to explain that he’s heard a lot of exciting things about the group and in particular, their leader, who’s known as Alpha. He admitted that he doesn’t yet know if a TV appearance is on the cards, or even if the show will implement the comic’s time jump which moved the action ahead a few years after Negan’s defeat. The only thing Lincoln is pretty sure will happen is that there will be lots of in-fighting between the different communities.
“I don’t know if we’re going there but I hope we are because I think it’s extraordinary. Everybody keeps talking about Alpha being the most bad-ass of bad-ass but we’ll see. I don’t know if we’re gonna pick up directly or after a time jump but certainly those scenes could be… The vision that Carl had for the future, this Utopian dream, I don’t think it’s gonna be a happy journey towards that. There seems to be a lot of descent between the communities in that last act of last night’s episode.”
Despite the actor’s uncertainty, fans believe that the season 8 finale already teased the incoming arrival of the Whisperers. On the hill which was the site of the final battle against the Saviors, a horde of walkers could be seen in the distance. It could be that these were really Whisperers wearing their distinctive zombie face masks. The wooden poles that marked the field also recalled the method that the Whisperers used to mark their territory in the comics.
Until any further updates arise, we’ll just have to wait and see what The Walking Dead season 9 brings. In the meantime, though, Fear the Walking Dead is now taking its place every Sunday on AMC.