"The Walking Dead" will be getting two more major characters from the comic book for the new season. Actor Josh McDermitt will be playing Dr. Eugene Porter and Michael Cudlitz will be joining as Abraham Ford, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Eugene is a former high school science teacher in the comic book series created by Robert Kirkman. He appears for the first time in the 53rd issue of the comic books. He travels with former sports coach and Army Sgt. Abraham and Rosita (Christian Serratos).
The group eventually meets up with Rick as they try to find their way to Washington. Eugene keeps everyone in the dark and is lying about knowing the cause of the zombie outbreak. He is using Abraham to protect him. Eventually Abraham and Rosita become lovers.
Scott Gimple revealed at New York Comic-Con that Eugene will be a key player pointing out that he remains alive in the comic books. Even though his is hiding a secret, Eugene is vital to the group because he uses his background in science to build ammunition.
"We're going to tell a version of the Eugene, Abraham and Rosita comic series, that's what we do," Gimple told THR. "I love those characters from the book; they are very different flavors of comic book characters than we've seen on the show."
Eugene also keeps the fact that he is really smart a secret from the group by altering his physical appearance. Gimple said he does this in order to protect himself.
"Josh looks breathtaking in a mullet; he was born to wear one," Gimple jokingly said. "I can proudly announce we will see a mullet."
Abraham has a pretty interesting story. He was a married father of two. Following the outbreak he returned home from hunting supplies to find his young son was forced to watch as his mother and little sister were raped.
Abraham catches the guys who did it and kills them but his family becomes afraid of him and leaves. He later catches up to his family only to find out they have been turned. Introducing new characters will also allow the series to explore other locations besides the prison.
"The Walking Dead" returns for its fourth season Sunday, Oct. 13 at 9 p.m. on AMC.
