FBI’s New Spinoff Taps One Chicago Alum to Team Up With Tom Ellis at the CIA

The FBI franchise will be returning this fall with an October 13 return date set for the eight season of the flagship series. The franchise is poised for a third spin-off, following FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International, with the next offshoot tentatively titled CIA. CIA was originally billed for a fall premiere but was pushed back to midseason next year. Tom Ellis leads the efforts of the new show, which is set to be focused on a rule-breaking CIA officer and an FBI agent who follows the rules. The pair will form a high-powered taskforce tasked with protecting the Big Apple. Deadline has reported that, to help fill out the cast of CIA, the offshoot has reached out to an original Chicago Med star.

The One Chicago franchise has run for over a decade, and the franchise has produced many beloved characters. Nick Gehlfuss, one of Chicago Med’s original stars, has joined the cast of CIA as the FBI agent who teams with Ellis’ character, CIA case officer, Hart Hoxton. Joining Gehlfuss on the cast of CIA, according to the Deadline report, is The Equalizer‘s Michael Michele. Michele will reportedly portray the head of the CIA’s New York Station. Gehlfuss’ casting on CIA could prove extremely valuable for the spin-off as time passes. The actor comes onboard after previously establishing himself as a fan-favorite character on another Dick Wolf show. For the first eight seasons of Chicago Med, Gehlfuss portrayed Dr. Will Halstead, a beloved character within the One Chicago franchise. Gehlfuss looks set for a cameo return, and his brother, Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer), who established himself with equal fervour among franchise fans, will be returning for Chicago P.D.‘s coming season.

‘CIA’ Will Look To Establish A Unique Identity

CIA was written by Wolf and FBI: Most Wanted showrunner David Hudgins, and follows a typical odd-couple team-up played out between a motormouthed rule-breaker in Ellis’ CIA caseworker, and a model officer and seasoned FBI agent, in Gehlfuss’ character. Generally speaking, Wolf’s shows are no stranger to developing strong partnerships, with OA (Zaki) and Maggie’s (Peregrym) dynamic within the FBI franchise a highlight. However, the upcoming spin-off will lean into character dynamics more than other Wolf shows, Ellis revealed in a conversation with Collider:

“There will be some differences in this show to a lot of the other Wolf shows. We’re trying to lean a lot more into character stuff. The central relationship between my character and the FBI character is going to be very much a driving force for the show. Even though we’re going to be a case of the week type of procedural, we’re going to spend a bit more time with our main characters than they traditionally do on a lot of these Wolf shows. I’m really looking forward to starting. I don’t know physically how different it will be. I’ll get to do a lot of running and jumping. The key to it, like anything, is finding the tone. What’s the sweet spot of this show? It will be a different procedural to Lucifer, that’s for sure. The character of Lucifer was able to satirize this genre. This will be a lot more grounded, in that sense. I’m really excited about starting. I think it’s going to be really interesting.”

CIA will begin filming this month, September 2025, as the show prepares for a midseason premiere. Come 2026, CIA will arrive on CBS. Stay tuned to Collider for updates.