The Walking Deadseason 9 is shaping up to be a major turning point for the massively popular zombie drama.Andrew Lincolnisout at the end of the seasonas Rick Grimes, the series' heart, soul, and beard for the past eight years.Lauren Cohanis only onboard for six episodes before she departs for CBS’Whiskey Cavalier.First-look imagesrevealed that the crew is going to be dragging around this, like, old-timey Wild West wagon, which is a whole thing. And withJeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan presumably locked away in a cell, AMC has announced a new force for our survivors to reckon with:Ryan Hursthas officially been cast as Beta, a spine-tingling baddie familiar to anyone who keeps up withRobert Kirkman’s source material. He’ll serve as second-in-command to Alpha, played by the recently-castSamantha Morton.
Hurst is probably most recognizable as the bearded, beanie-wearing biker Harry “Opie” Winston on FX’sSons of Anarchy.The actor also portrayed doomed high school football player Gerry Bertier inRemember the Titansand notched a few military roles in bothSaving Private RyanandWe Were Soldiersearly in his career. Recently, he spent two seasons living in the woods alongsideDavid Morsein WGN America’s short-livedOutsiders.
HisWalking Deadrole, Beta, is probably most recognizable as the guy who wears a gosh darn skin mask over his own face. In Kirkman’s comics, the character serves as lieutenant of the Whisperers, a crew of post-apocalyptic hoodlums who survive among the living dead by donning suits made of human flesh. Season 9 gonna' be gross, y’all!
It’s also—at least according to new showrunnerAngela Kangand longtime executive-producerGreg Nicotero—going to be a return to form. Talking toFANDOM, the EP said that the upcoming season would “morph back into a season 4, season 5 vibe.”
Loosely translated, Nicotero is trying to say the show will once again be watchable on a week-to-week basis. Many were hopeful that Negan’s arrival would bringThe Walking Deadback to its former heights, but even the arrival of a goddamn CGI tiger—my usual go-to fix for any and all creative problems—couldn’t save that arc from being a bloated, boring mess. Hopefully, Hurst showing up in such a gruesome role is a sign this horror series might—gasp!—trying and be horrifying again.
