The Walking Dead casts Sons of Anarchy star Ryan Hurst in the role of Beta, a member of the Whisperers, in the upcoming season. Many announcements for the show were made at San Diego Comic-Con including the fact that the Whisperers would be making an appearance in the ninth season.
The Whisperers are a group of survivors who disguise themselves as zombies in order to survive the apocalypse, much like Rick has done on more than one occasion. What's different about the Whisperers is that they actually wear the skin of the zombies in order to make their disguise seem that much more authentic. They were termed "Whisperers" in the comics when members of Rick's group heard walkers whispering, not knowing that it was actually other survivors disguised as zombies. Since the trailer for The Walking Dead season 9 features a time jump and since Negan has been shown to still be in captivity, the ninth season was in need of a new antagonist. Given recent casting announcements and Hurst's character, the Whisperers seem to be a likely candidate to fill the role of the next villainous group.
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As reported by The Wrap, Hurst has been cast as Beta in season 9 of The Walking Dead. Beta was first introduced in issue #154 of Robert Kirkman's comic book series. The character was the second in command of the Whisperers behind Alpha, who has also recently been cast. Since Beta is an important character when it comes to the Whisperers storyline, Hurst will be playing a recurring role throughout this next season. Hurst was previously a star on FX's Sons of Anarchy in the role of Opie Winston before his character was killed off in season 5.
Fans of The Walking Dead will be greeted with a lot of changes as the show moves forward. Both Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohan have announced that season 9 will be their last on the show. This will no doubt change the program going forward as Cohan's character Maggie has been a lead since season 2, and Lincoln's character Rick Grimes has been the leader of the group since the first season. While season 9 will be losing more than one main character, the show has recently added many actors to play new roles. Samantha Morton has been cast as Alpha - the leader of the Whisperers - and Cassady McClincy has been cast as her daughter Lydia.
As the show kills off more main characters, it continues to stray away from the source material. Despite the changes being made on the show, fans of the comics have been patiently waiting for the arrival of the Whisperers. With the addition of Hurst as Beta along with other key characters being cast, it looks as though the Whisperers time has finally come.
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The Walking Dead season 9 premieres October 7 on AMC.
Source: The Wrap