Scandal's Cornelius Smith Jr. Gets Promoted to Series Regular

Marcus Walker is going to be sticking around on Scandal.

Actor Cornelius Smith Jr. has been upped to a series regular for Season 5, TVGuide.com has confirmed.

According to TVLine, which first reported the news, it's unclear how or when Marcus - an activist who was introduced in Season 4 - make his return. We'll put our money on him being Olivia's (Kerry Washington) newest gladiator... or maybe even the fourth point in her love quadrangle.

Smith previously portrayed Frankie Hubbard on All My Children, and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award and an NAACP Image Award for the role. His promotion follows that of Portia de Rossi, who will also be a series regular on Scandal next season.

Add new fall shows to your Watchlist now!

Scandal returns Thursday, Sept. 24 on 9/8c on ABC. Are you looking forward to seeing more of Marcus?

VIDEO: Cheers! Relive every awesome drunk Mellie moment: