The Walking Dead’ has a great deal of mist to shout at in the weeks leading up to season 5's February 8 return, but a mystery awaits once the smoke clears. Actor Ross Marquand has joined ‘The Walking Dead’ as a new series regular, with rumor mills heavily suggesting he’ll play an important comic book character.

You’re warned of some mega-spoilers for the back half of ‘The Walking Dead’ season 5 from here on out, but while AMC wouldn’t offer any details on Marquand’s role, most sources point to comic character and Alexandria scout Aaron. Notable as one of the few openly-gay characters of the books, Aaron introduces himself to Rick’s gang and offers them a chance at membership within the “Alexandria Safe-Zone,” a walled community that largely carries on as life before the zombie apocalypse.

We’re following the line of speculation here, but most producer interviews have alluded to a major change in scenery for ‘The Walking Dead’ season 5's back half, as well as a number of new characters to meet, which could well support the Alexandria theory, or some remix of therein. Additionally, Robert Kirkman previously confirmed that a prominent gay character from the books would pop up on the series this season, at the time quashing notions of Daryl being revealed as homosexual.

Don’t forget, we’ve also yet to meet ‘American Horror Story’ star Alexandra Breckinridge’s character, who has similarly been said to recur. We’ve included the latest mist-shouty ‘Walking Dead’ 2015 premiere trailer below, but what say you? Will Ross Marquand turn out to be Aaron, or another prominent character? What do you hope to see when AMC’s undead drama returns on February 8?

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