If you've been keeping track of The Walking Dead and its spin-off Fear the Walking Dead, you know this isn't the first time Beta's backstory has been teased. As reported by ComicBook.com, a few eagle-eyed FTWD fans first spotted Beta's bearded mug on a different record sleeve last fall. And we actually got a taste of his music earlier this season on TWD when another Whisperer was, unbeknownst to viewers, listening to one of his songs.
Whatever the case, now that The Walking Dead creative team is committing to Beta's musical background, longtime fans of Robert Kirkman's beloved source material will likely be quick to point out that Beta's backstory is dramatically different in the books. If you haven't read TWD, those books teased that Beta was a famous basketball player before the flesh-eating zombies took over.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang broke down Beta's background shift, and offered that Hurst was key in making the change.
"So, we were thinking about all of that stuff, and in the comic books he's basketball player. But as we were constructing it here, we were like, 'Does [actor Ryan Hurst] really feel like a basketball player? Maybe more of a football player, but is that the way we want to go?' And Ryan had this idea of, 'Oh, maybe he was this musician,' and we thought that that was really cool," she shared. "And I think the aspect of it that was kind of important is he was this famous guy and he had this dark side that kind of came out in the apocalypse."
Not for nothing, but "dark side" feels like a substantial understatement in regards to "Half Moon" Beta's persona. Either way, we're really hoping to learn more of his story — and hear more of his music — moving forward.
