Note: If you haven't seen The Walking Dead: Season 3 finale, you might consider what follows to be spoiler-ish...

Loading

When The Walking Dead returns in October, Rick Grimes will have some more full time help. The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Chad Coleman (Tyreese), Sonequa Martin-Green (Sasha) and Emily Kinney (Beth) will all be upped from recurring to series regular/opening credit status for Season 4.Kinney has been on the show since the start of Season 2, while Coleman and Martin-Green were introduced in Season 3. While an elevated role for Coleman was expected (his character being quite a popular one from the comic), it will be interesting to see if Kinney's new status means Beth finally gets more storylines moving forward. Martin-Green's character, Tyreese's sister, was invented for the series. Martin-Green also has an important recurring role on Once Upon a Time these days.These promotions follow the news THR reported earlier this week that David Morrissey (The Governor) will remain a series regular in Season 4 as well.Interestingly, there still is no word on Scott Wilson being made a series regular, despite his character, Hershel, having had a prominent role for two years now.Update: As was pointed out in the comments, Melissa McBride, who plays Carol, also is technically still a guest/recurring actor on the show, despite being in every season. Ah, the intricacies of contracts and who gets what deal in Hollywood... We'll see if either Wilson or McBride also get a promotion before Season 4 begins.