Samantha Morton Will Return As Alpha In Tales Of The Walking Dead
AMC's "The Walking Dead" may be wrapping up its 11-season run this year, but Samantha Morton's character, Alpha, will live to fight zombies (and perhaps wear their skin?) another day. The upcoming anthology series, "Tales of the Walking Dead," will feature characters new and old, and Morton has signed on to reprise her role as Alpha, the leader of the Whisperers in seasons 9 and 10 of the original flagship "Walking Dead" series.
"Tales of the Walking Dead" is set to run six episodes, and Variety reports that Morton will star in one of them. While the specifics of that episode's plot "are being kept under wraps" for now, we can make an educated guess about when it will be set given how things played out on "The Walking Dead."
Morton was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work as Hattie in "Sweet and Lowdown," but she gained more mainstream notoriety for her work as a "precog" opposite Tom Cruise in Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report." "Tales of the Walking Dead" has been lining up some interesting guest stars in addition to her, including Cruise's "Top Gun" co-star Anthony Edwards, Terry Crews, and Parker Posey, among others.
AMC executives have referred to the show as a "test kitchen" for future potential spin-offs, but the anthology nature of it also might make it more accessible to casual viewers who just want to check in for one or more standalone episodes, without getting swept up in a big zombie herd of them again. Seasons 10 and 11 of "The Walking Dead," for instance, have both been extended to over 20 episodes, in contrast to previous 16-episode seasons.
Spoilers for "The Walking Dead" season 10 below.
We probably know the time setting of Alpha's episode
Alpha's grisly fate in "The Walking Dead" would, of course, make it necessary for her episode of "Tales of the Walking Dead" to be some sort of prequel, set before the events of her final appearance. In season 10, episode 12 of "The Walking Dead," Jeffrey Morgan's character, Negan, slit Alpha's throat and decapitated her before toting her zombified head back to Carol (Melissa McBride).
Speaking of Negan and Carol, their adventures will continue beyond the main "Walking Dead" series, as well. Negan will appear in "Isle of the Dead" with Maggie (Lauren Cohen), whose husband, Glenn (Steven Yeun), he famously killed with his signature spiked bat. Carol, meanwhile, will appear in an as-yet-untitled spin-off with Daryl (Norman Reedus.)
On TV, "The Walking Dead" franchise now encompasses those three shows, along with the ongoing spin-off, "Fear the Walking Dead," the comparatively short-lived "The Walking Dead: The World Beyond," and "Tales of the Walking Dead."
"Tales of the Walking Dead" is coming to AMC and AMC+ this summer.