The S.W.A.T. series finale, “Return to Base,” premiered on May 16, 2025, and was directed by Billy Gierhart and written by Matthew T. Brown and Daniela Labi.
S.W.A.T. Exiles is now in production, but it won’t air on CBS. Instead of being a collaboration between CBS Studios and Sony Pictures Television, Sony will be heading the development of the upcoming offshoot without its former partner. Shemar Moore will still reprise his role as Hondo in S.W.A.T. Exiles, though. As for its plotline, the spinoff features Hondo coming out of forced retirement to lead an experimental unit of young recruits. While its logline indicates that S.W.A.T. Exiles will contain a brand-new cast aside from Hondo, a recent update suggests otherwise.
Hondo’s S.W.A.T Spinoff Can Feature The Return Of The Full Original Cast
Sony Is Trying To Find Ways To Bring Back Other Cast Members
While speaking with Deadline at the Banff TV Festival in June 2025, Keith LeGoy (the Chairman of Sony Pictures Television) discussed the chances of other original S.W.A.T. stars appearing in S.W.A.T. Exiles outside of Shemar Moore. Based on his comments, the odds of more S.W.A.T. cast members returning in the spinoff are high. LeGoy said:
“There is a S.W.A.T family and that family is important. We would love to have other family members involved in some way, whether it’s all of them all of the time, some of them some of the time, or something in between. That’s something that we are still figuring out.”
As of the writing of this article, Sony hasn’t announced that any original S.W.A.T. actors aside from Moore would join the spinoff’s cast. Just because LeGoy teased that they’re trying to bring back some familiar faces, that doesn’t mean it will happen. The chances of more characters returning are high, though. If Jay Harrington, David Lim, or others reprise their roles in S.W.A.T. Exiles, perhaps the first show’s cancelation won’t be as heartbreaking.
Bringing Back The Complete Original Cast Can Essentially Make The Spinoff S.W.A.T Season 9
S.W.A.T. Exiles Could Just Double As Season 9
With other original S.W.A.T. cast members coming onboard for S.W.A.T. Exiles, the upcoming offshoot is sounding more like a ninth season instead of an actual spinoff. And if the entire season 8 cast appears, one can’t help but think that S.W.A.T. Exiles is simply doubling as season 9. Perhaps it will tell a different story than what the writers and producers had in mind for the action drama series if CBS hadn’t canceled it. However, the return of the S.W.A.T. season 8 cast in Exiles would appease fans upset over the first show’s ending, regardless.
The S.W.A.T. spinoff could be masquerading as season 9. Since Sony and CBS couldn’t come to an agreement concerning the police procedural’s future, Sony Pictures Television executives might have decided that they weren’t ready to let go of S.W.A.T. Consequently, they worked out the logistics and found a way to continue the show. Only time will tell if S.W.A.T. Exiles is just another name for S.W.A.T. season 9 (and where it will find its home), but in the meantime, it feels like the original series never ended.
Why Hondo’s Spinoff Needs To Feature At Least A Couple Of Original S.W.A.T. Characters
Shemar Moore Being The Only S.W.A.T. Cast Member To Return Wouldn’t Make Sense
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