After debuting in the finale of The Walking Dead Season 6, Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Negan became a fan-favorite villain, with many considering him the absolute best of the series. Although the character is no longer one of the show's main antagonists, he's still alive, and there are no signs he's going anywhere soon. However, Morgan doesn't seem willing to give up the title of greatest villain on AMC's hit zombie drama, at least not yet.
“I did an interview a couple of months ago where I said Alpha was the greatest villain The Walking Dead has ever seen," director and special effects artist Greg Nicotero told Atlanta Magazine. "Five minutes later, I got a text from Jeffrey Dean Morgan that said, ‘Hey, motherf***er!' I’m like, dude, you know I love you. You know I love Negan, but the show has evolved and changed.”
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Nicotero also teased a bit of what fans can expect from the Whisperers in the upcoming half of the season. “For me, I love the terrifying aspect of [the Whisperers],” he said. “It’s like Leatherface and Michael Myers, they have these faces that don’t move, so there’s this weird, detached approach. They look you in the eyes, but you don’t know what thinking or what they’re feeling.”
The mid-season premiere picks up where the last episode of Season 9 left off and sees the residents of Alexandria begin to come to terms with the ghastly threat of the Whisperers. Alpha is, of course, the leader of the Whisperers, and she'll likely serve as the main antagonist for much of the coming season. As the leader of the Whisperers, Alpha will definitely pose a major threat to the show's surviving people.
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The Walking Dead stars Norman Reedus, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Khary Payton and Jeffery Dean Morgan. The show airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. The series returns for the second half of Season 9 on February 10. The mid-season premiere, titled "Adaptation," is directed by Nicotero.