The Walking Dead season 8 reached its thrilling finale last month, 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, a group of survivors who have grown savage and inhuman, most notably wearing zombie skins over their faces.
But what are the chances of them appearing in season 9 of the TV show? Well, according to TVLine, very good, as a recent casting call has “all but confirmed” the Whisperers for the new run. Apparently, casting is now underway for “girlfriends Yumiko and Magna, characters from Kirkman’s comic series that have a large part to play in The Whisperer War.”
For those who don’t read the source material, “Yumiko, Magna, and a few other survivors arrive in Alexandria and are at first greeted as potential enemies.” After some time, though, “they prove themselves as helpful allies, and go on to become important characters in the story, taking up arms with the rest of the Alexandrians to fight off the Whisperers.”
Sure, this doesn’t 100% mean that the group is indeed on their way to The Walking Dead, but the evidence pointing to them showing up in the near future is overwhelming at this stage and like we said, after the “All-Out War” arc in the comics, this is what comes next. Granted, the show doesn’t always follow what’s on the page word for word, but at this stage, we’d be more surprised if they didn’t appear during season 9, than if they did.
