How to work with multiple characters on a single rig?

So here's my situation - I built a rig of a human character using an Illustrator file with separated layers, which I imported into After Effects. Using Duik Angela, I built the rig, and it all works nicely. To be able to make many characters quickly, I'm trying to figure out how I can easily create new poses and moves without having to rig up an entirely new character.

My workflow for that now is to duplicate the AI file, use guides to build a character in the same style as the original, and thanks to the guide, being able to replace the characters 1:1, without realigning much.

But now, I need to replace each layer one by one - alt-drag the layer, or ctrl + H to replace the footage - but to bulk replace the layers in the comp based on their name doesn't work.

I did manage to write a script that lets me select the exact files in the project panel and the comp, and it works, but it is still tedious. Ideally, I want AE to automatically detect the layers to be replaced and replace them with a script. Or to be able to simply duplicate and replace comps in the AE project with the new character files.

Is there a way to do this?

Thanks so much!