The Walking Dead season 9 reveals first look at Samantha Morton as Whisperers leader Alpha

The new villains promise to be the show's most terrifying yet

While The Walking Dead may have winded down for the year, the network behind the series has already begun teasing the second half of the ninth season.

A brand new poster has been released, revealing the first terrifying look at villain Alpha, who’ll be played by Samantha Morton.

The character, who has already appeared in the comic books, is the leader of the Whisperers, a group of humans who prowl the landscape dressed in walker skin in order to catch their victims unawares.

The AMC series aired its mid-season finale earlier this month and climaxed with the death of another main character – the actor of whom has since refused to hold back on his honest thoughts regarding the treatment of his character.

After a run of episodes which saw the departure of Andrew Lincoln’s protagonist Rick Grimes and a five-year time jump, the series is now ready to delve into the villains that comic book readers have been awaiting for years.

Samantha Morton as Alpha in ‘The Walking Dead’ season nine poster (AMC Studios)

The official synopsis for season nine, part B (which returns 10 February 2019) reads: “The second half of The Walking Dead season nine 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 many of these characters have become strangers to each other, and in some ways, strangers to themselves. What they do know is that they are in undeniable danger…”

While viewing ratings have been down, the critical consensus is that The Walking Dead is better than it’s been in years. AMC is showing no signs of slowing the franchise down either following the announcement of a film trilogy focused on Lincoln’s departed character, which will shoot in early 2019.

The Walking Dead season nine returns to AMC and FOX in February