Avi Nash and Callan McAuliffe have been promoted to series regulars for The Walking Dead's ninth season.
Nash and McAuliffe arrived in season eight, starring as Siddiq and Alden respectively.
Siddiq is a character from the Walking Dead comic books. In the source material, he comes from Oceanside – though the TV series has established that all of Oceanside's men were slaughtered by the Saviors, so it's unclear if that still holds true here.
Related: Here's how The Walking Dead season 9 could go down – based on the comics
Siddiq goes on to become a valuable ally to Rick, and also Rosita's bit on the side. Believe it or not, in the comics, Rosita ends up dating Eugene, but cheats on him with Siddiq.
In the show, Siddiq is a doctor, and Carl (Chandler Riggs) died saving his life – meaning Siddiq can go on to help save others.
Meanwhile, Alden is a former member of Negan's Saviors. He surrendered to Maggie (Lauren Cohan)'s Hilltop community and was kept there as a prisoner.
There's no Alden in the source material, though it's possible that he's based on a character named Dante – Maggie's love interest.
Last month, former Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple said that the season eight finale is a culmination of the entire show to date – meaning season nine, which will see Angela Kang take over as showrunner, will be a brand new start.
The Walking Dead airs on AMC in the US and on FOX and NOW TV in the UK.
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