'The Walking Dead' Season 9 Whisperers: "Alpha" Villain Teased in New Image

The Walking Dead officially introduced its newest villains, The Whisperers, in the midseason finale, but we haven’t met any of their key members, at least not yet. Now, AMC has released a first look at the most important Whisperer: Alpha.

Spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 9 below.

AMC released new key art for the second half of the season featuring Alpha (Samantha Morton), the leader of The Whisperers. Like the rest of the group, she wears the skin of walkers.

The Whisperers were first heard earlier in the season, when Rosita and Eugene hid from them after a mission went sideways. It wasn’t until the midseason finale, however, that anyone got a good look at them.

Daryl, Jesus, and Aaron went out in search of Eugene after Rosita had to leave him behind because he was injured. When they found him, Eugene warned the group that the undead nearby weren’t normal walkers. He speculated they were somehow evolving, but by the end of the episode, the survivors learned the truth. One of Whisperers killed Jesus, and after that “walker” was killed, Daryl discovered he was actually a person wearing a walker mask.

When the episode ended, Daryl, Michonne, Aaron, Eugene, Magna, and Yumiko were surrounded by other Whisperers in a graveyard. The midseason premiere will begin right where “Evolution” left off.

“We’re gonna find out what happens to that group that was in the cemetery as they try to make their harrowing journey back home to bury Jesus,” showrunner Angela Kang told Entertainment Weekly. “We’ll get to know more about [The Whisperers] and their brutal survival of the fittest philosophy and how that really plays out in horrifying ways.”

EW also posted a photo from the midseason premiere, revealing that everyone else makes it out of the graveyard alive to bring Jesus’s body home.

The Whisperers are front and center in the Season 9B trailer (above), which offered the first glimpse at Alpha, albeit from behind but recognizable by her bald head (the character’s look in the comics). The video also shows Alpha’s second-in-command, Beta (Ryan Hurst).

The Walking Dead Season 9 returns Sunday, February 10 at 9 p.m. on AMC.

Related video: The Survivors Face New Problems in The Walking Dead Season 9