The cast of the upcoming season of "Empire" just got a little bigger. It has been revealed that Ajiona Alexus and Jeremy Carver will respectively play a young Cookie and Lucious.

The news comes from Deadline, who also reports that Ezri Walker has likewise landed a recurring role. Walker will bring to life the character of Zeah, who has "an edge and real talent as a rapper. With his high GPA and serious smarts, this teenager finds himself torn between a future at an elite university and a career at Empire under the guidance of the legendary Lucious Lyon." 

On the other hand, Alexus will play a young Cookie who goes to Catholic school and who is as pretty as she is innocent. She will find herself attracted to a young Lucious, played by Carver, who possesses an amazing voice and a bad boy image.

But these three are not the only newcomers to the Fox series. Entertainment Weekly has exclusively learned that Kid Cudi has been tapped to play a character named Gram, an all-around rival of Hakeem (Bryshere Gray). Gram is an equally talented rapper, who might threaten Hakeem. It also doesn't help that Gram is dating Tiana (Serayah McNeill), Hakeem's ex-girlfriend. 

Season 3 is shaping up to be an exciting prospect for viewers. Not only will it introduce new competition for one of the show's stars but it will also show how it all began between Lucious and Cookie. There has been some speculation that the couple's romance will be given a bit of focus in the upcoming season, especially since Cookie has given up on Lucious after he married Anika (Grace Gealey).

In other cast news, it was previously reported that French Montana has also been added to the mix, playing a character named Vaughn, a big player in the music industry and one of Lucious' confidants.

"Empire" season 3 will premiere on Sept. 21, Wednesday, on FOX.