The Walking Dead’s The Wire Obsession Is Weirdly Common in Superhero Shows

Specifically, a lot has been made of Gilliam’s addition to the cast because he’s the third member of the cast of HBO’s The Wire to join the cast of The Walking Dead after Chad Coleman (Tyreese) and Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (Bob Stookey).

Business Insider caught up with series creator and executive producer Robert Kirkman about the phenomenon, and he gave a simple answer: 

He went on to say that both Coleman and Gilliam were cast at a point when nobody on staff could think of another actor in the role; Coleman, they sought out because Kirkman was writing the role with him in mind — and by the time they got to Gilliam, even the producers on The Walking Dead were making fun of it.

“It was funny, when Seth [Gilliam] came up in the casting of Gabriel [showrunner] Scott Gimple and I were like ‘Do we really want to make this a thing? It’s kind of becoming a bit of a joke. Do we really want to do this?’” Kirkman admitted. 

He added that they’ll “definitely make that happen” when asked about recruiting The Wire standouts Michael B. Jordan, currently playing Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four, and Idris Elba of Pacific Rim fame to the cause.

While Kirkman and company have been having a bit of fun with the press they’ve got out of rooting around in The Wire‘s closet, it’s hardly a unique phenomenon. Even ignoring things like showrunners who hire recurring cast members from their previous show (a common occurence), it’s not unheard-of for producers to seemingly develop a little “crush” on another show.

On The CW, The Flash — with only one episode on the air already and currently filming just its ninth — has already recruited two members of the Prison Break cast (and a fair number of Broadway stars, too): Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller. The pair played brothers on Prison Break and will play members of the Flash’s Rogues Gallery on the CW comic book adaptation.

He’ll appear on the series, which has also played host to his former Spartacus co-stars Katrina Law, Manu Bennett and Cynthia Addai-Robinson (at least two of whom will return in Season Three).

That Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. casts Joss Whedon alumni by the bushelful is more or less par for the course on his projects, so we won’t pretend that’s unique to the series…but viewed in the context of three other major comic book shows that are seemingly casting this way, it’s worth a wink and a nod, at least.

The Walking Dead returns tonight at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC.