The Walking Dead season 9 trailer: Alpha takes centre stage as the Whisperers are introduced

The show is returning in less than a month

The Walking Dead is returning in just one month – and AMC has offered the best glimpse at the show’s terrifying new villains yet.

In December 2018, the show’s ninth run aired its mid-season finale that saw a key character perish at the hands of the Whisperers, the new foes our heroes will face in the back half of the season.

Jesus (Tom Payne) was left stunned after learning a walker he was about to kill was, in fact, a human wearing a stitched-up zombie mask.

“You are where you don’t belong,” his murderer whispered, as Jesus – real name Paul Rovia – slumped to the floor.

This new trailer shows things from the clan’s viewpoint, watching our characters – including Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) – from afar.

The clip ends with a group of the Whisperers rallied by their leader Alpha, who’ll be introduced in the next few episodes. She’ll be played by Samantha Morton.

Hints that they have existed in the Walking Dead universe can be dated back to season three in a scene that saw Morgan (Lennie James) claim to have seen “people wearing dead people’s faces.”

It was recently revealed that another Walking Dead character would be joining Morgan in spinoff series, Fear the Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead continues in the US on AMC on 12 February with the simulcast airing in the UK at 2am. The episode will also be available to watch on NOW TV ahead of its repeat on FOX at 9pm the following evening.