The Walking Dead's Tyler James Williams Cast in Criminal Minds Spinoff

01/28/2015 09:20 am EST

Let the speculation that Noah won't make it to the end of Season Five begin!

The Walking Dead's Tyler James Williams, whose character is officially a recurring guest star and not a series regular, will co-star opposite Gary Sinise in CBS' upcoming, as-yet-untitled Criminal Minds spinoff.

The series is a "planted spinoff," meaning that it will get a backdoor pilot as an episode of Criminal Minds, written by executive producer/showrunner Erica Messer, according to Deadline:

James will play the sweet and incredibly smart Monty. As the team's tech analyst, Monty stays at home while the team works abroad. His attention to detail and kind manner are invaluable as he liaises with the families of those in trouble and uses his tech savvy to help the team fill in the holes as they search for a killer far from home.

Whenever a member of The Walking Dead cast is brought on board another project, there's immediate speculation that their character will be killed, given the high stakes of The Walking Dead. It isn't necessarily true, though, given The Walking Dead's relatively short production calendar.

Noah was introduced during the Beth Greene-centric subplot at an Atlanta hospital last season; he doesn't exist in the comics. At the conclusion of the Atlanta subplot, Noah joined Rick Grimes and his group of survivors.

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