‘The Walking Dead’ Reveals The First Unnerving Footage of Samantha Morton’s Alpha

Samantha Morton will bring something to The Walking Dead in the back half of season 9 that no other cast member to date can: Two Oscar nominations. She’ll be able to put that acting talent to good use as Alpha, the villainous leader of The Whisperers, a cult of survivors that roam around in the skin of zombies.

If viewers were wondering if the horror sequence that led to Jesus’ death in the midseason finale of The Walking Dead was a harbinger of things to come, this new teaser introducing Samantha Morton’s character should answer that question decidedly in the affirmative.

In case it’s not absolutely clear what is going on in that clip, that is a character who is sewing a mask made of a face she peeled off of a zombie. I repeat: She’s wearing someone else’s dead, rotting face.

It should be a very good back half of season 9, which will also feature Negan escaping prison and crossing paths with Alpha. Moreover, it doesn’t get mentioned as often as it should because Samantha Morton is such a great get for The Walking Dead, but Beta — Alpha’s right hand — will be played by Sons of Anarchy vet Ryan Hurst. If the comics are any indication, Beta is more of a half-mask kind of guy: He only wears the flesh of the dead down to his mouth, because Beta likes to let his beard breathe.

The Walking Dead returns on February 10th.