Avon Barksdale, iconic strongman of the HBO series The Wire, once declared in no uncertain terms, “I want my corners!” or the street corners from which his “soldiers” could peddle illicit substances.

In March, just two years after The Wire went dead, the real Avon Barksdale will be brought to the screen in a new documentary, The Avon Barksdale Story—Legends Of The Unwired, which has already won ...