The ninth season of The Walking Dead, an American post-apocalyptic horror television series on AMC premiered on October 7, 2018, and concluded on March 31, 2019, consisting of 16 episodes.

The executive producers are Kirkman, David Alpert, Scott M. Gimple, Angela Kang, Greg Nicotero, Tom Luse, Denise Huth, and Gale Anne Hurd, with Kang taking over the role of showrunner from Gimple after his promotion to chief content officer for the franchise.

Eighteen months after the defeat of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) under an alliance of communities spearheaded by Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), the season focuses on the united communities as they face obstacles and dangers both outside and inside their alliance, with the threat of the mysterious Whisperers looming.

[7] Samantha Morton joined the cast as a series regular and was added to the opening credits beginning with episode ten.

The animated title sequence, which is graphic novel inspired, features familiar imagery such as Daryl's motorcycle and crossbow, and Michonne's katana.

[5] In June 2018, it was reported that Jon Bernthal would reprise his role as Shane Walsh for a guest appearance in the ninth season.

Several other recurring roles were announced as well, played by Brett Butler, John Finn, Rhys Coiro, Dan Fogler and Zach McGowan.

[27][26] The ninth season also features the departures of series regulars Xander Berkeley (Gregory), Tom Payne (Paul "Jesus" Rovia), Katelyn Nacon (Enid) and Alanna Masterson (Tara Chambler).

This was a major departure from the original comic, where Jesus is still alive and the actor explained, "It's an amazing show and I was so honored to be a part of it, but at the same time, being the same character without anything fun to do is a bit frustrating".

[65] Actor Tom Payne, who portrays Paul "Jesus" Rovia, said the timejump is about a year and a half from the end of the eighth season, giving enough time for survivors to re-establish farming and livestock raising.

Instead, they opted to make the Whisperers masks immovable similar to Michael Myers' from the Halloween series, which according to Nicotero, "you cannot judge any kind of emotion".

The site's critical consensus reads, "Nine seasons in, The Walking Dead feels more alive than ever, with heightened tension and a refreshed pace that rejuvenates this long-running franchise.

[73] Reviewing the season premiere, Sarah Moran of Screen Rant wrote the episode "feels like the fresh start the series so desperately needs, trading grim wartime for a more peaceful period of growth and reflection" and praised the changes made by new showrunner Angela Kang.

Club praised the episode, with a qualification of A− and in his review he said: "At best, 'The Calm Before' could be a memorial for what this show has been as it heads toward a new future, a reminder of what it used to look like during its strongest seasons, before reshuffling the undead chessboard of its major players and changing up the nature of its structure and stories.

"Warning Signs" showed this was possible, and the Whisperers are an ideal foil by which to engage in some ambitious new ways of dealing with these characters and communities as they enter a new era of existence.

True, this show hasn't demonstrated anything like the kind of consistency that would point to such a maneuver; continuing its uneven mix of soap-opera melodrama and intriguing experiments in post-apocalyptic thrills is the likely progression.