Criminal Minds Season 16 Release Date, News & Update: Six Fan-Favorites Return, Two Left Out

Six original cast members return for Criminal Minds Season 16.

While the procedural crime drama concluded in 2020, talks about a revival series with Paramount+ began only a year later. However, there has been no information provided on the project since February 2021, prompting some fans to speculate that the series may not be developed.

Now, in a surprising update, it appears the revival series is officially a go.

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Criminal Minds Season 16 Casting Update

According to Deadline, six actors who were adored by fans of the original series of the show will be returning for Criminal Minds Season 16: Joe Mantegna, Kirsten Vangsness, Adam Rodriguez, A.J. Cook, Aisha Tyler, and Paget Brewster. The final season of Criminal Minds featured all six actors.

Erica Messer, the executive producer and showrunner of Criminal Minds, will also return to the revival series. Messer's deal with ABC Signature was a requirement for all six actors' contracts.

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Two Original Criminal Minds Characters Unconfirmed

Matthew Gray Gubler and Daniel Henney, the two other main cast members from Season 15, have yet to sign on for Criminal Minds Season 16. Gubler stated that he was ready to move on after being a major cast member for 15 years, despite his character Dr. Spencer Reid being a fan favorite throughout all of the show's seasons.

Meanwhile, Henney is currently starring in the Amazon Prime series The Wheel of Time, and any appearances by Henney in the Criminal Minds revival would be dependent on his filming schedule.

An Encouraging Progress

Criminal Minds lasted 15 seasons, with the final episode airing on Feb. 19, 2020. The show was a huge success and spawned its own franchise, which featured two spinoff series, a South Korean adaption, and a video game.

With Criminal Minds Season 16 assumed to be dead for quite some time, such a significant update is really hopeful. Fans of the original series will be pleased to see several familiar faces return, and while nothing more is known about the project, this is a promising development.

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