Ever since the introduction of a new antagonistic group called the Reapers was announced for Season 10C of The Walking Dead, fans have been speculating. Now, the series showrunner Angela Kang confirms that the group has a military background.
The Reapers — or a solitary person who is assumed to be a member of the group — burst onto the screen in the Season 10C premiere episode of The Walking Dead. This character had followed Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan) and her small group all the way from the location destroyed by the Reapers to her old stomping grounds.
Aiming to eradicate Maggie and the remaining members of her group, it led people to wonder more deeply about this new group of villains. Now, speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Kang has confirmed what many viewers suspected.
The Reapers have some sort of a military background
Already, viewers have seen how the single Reaper looked and strategized in the Season 10C premiere of The Walking Dead. Dressed in a camouflaged ghillie suit, the Reaper used military tactics in order to split up Maggie’s (Lauren Cohan) group and take them out one by one until he could be overpowered.
Judging by this, many assumed that the group is some type of ex-military or, at least, have a background in hunting.
Kang has now revealed that is a likely assumption to make.
“They have some sort of background where they know military techniques. And so, that’s going to be just a formidable type of enemy to go up against,” Kang said.
It also means that the communities will come up against something that they haven’t seen before.
“In our show, all of the people who are the bad guys they come up against, who knows, they might’ve been an accountant before the apocalypse and then just turned dark. Right? But when you have people who have a certain level of skills and training, it poses a different kind of a problem, because suddenly you don’t need 100 of them. One guy can cause a lot of harm.”
How long will the Reapers be around in The Walking Dead?
While nothing has been revealed regarding the outcome between the Reapers and Maggie, it is known that the story arc will continue into Season 11 of The Walking Dead. This will give the newcomers plenty of time to move in and scare all of the communities as well as, likely, take some of them out.
Initially, these characters were not going to appear until Season 11 of The Walking Dead. However, with AMC adding six bonus episodes to Season 10, it gave more of an opportunity to delve into the story regarding the Reapers.
The Walking Dead airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on AMC.