Walking Dead alum Chad L. Coleman will have a recurring role in Arrow season 5.
Coleman will play Tobias Church, who is described as “an imposing gangster looking to unite the various criminal enterprises in Star City under his own singular command,” reports IGN. He’ll first appear in the season 5 premiere.
The original casting call for the role likened the character to Idris Elba’s Stringer Bell from The Wire, so it’s appropriate Coleman, who also appeared on The Wire, will step into the part. Furthermore, the casting call described Tobias — then being called “Anton Church” — as an “apex predator” who “cuts his way through the shadows” by taking down “the biggest threat first.”
Coleman is not the first Walking Dead alum to appear in the Arrow-verse, as Emily Kinney has appeared in episodes of The Flash and Arrow as the Bug-Eyed Bandit.
Coleman’s other credits include The Expanse, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and I Hate My Teenage Daughter.
With the death of Damien Darhk in the season 4 finale, there is clearly a power vacuum among the criminal elements remaining in Star City. If the criminals are uniting in season 5, it would make sense why the show has cast a new district attorney who also happens to be crime-fighting vigilante by night. Mayor Oliver Queen/the Green Arrow will need all the help he can get.
Arrow season 5 is also adding vigilantes Wild Dog and Artemis. Additionally, Echo Kellum, who plays Curtis Holt, will be a series regular in season 5.
Arrow season 5 premieres Wednesday, October 5 at 8:00 p.m. ET on The CW.