The rebooted A. J. Cook, and Kirsten Vangsness.
One year after the series went off the air, Paramount+ announced that they were mounting a new revival of the series, picking up at season 16. After the announcement, the project went on the back burner for nearly a year and was believed to have been scrapped. However, this week the streaming platform confirmed that they are still in development on the project, clearing up the confusion over what may have been pandemic or contract-related delays, firmly stating that more Criminal Minds is on its way.
Per Deadline, Paramount+ is currently still in negotiations to finalize its contract with Criminal Minds creator Erica Messer. However, though they are not yet attached in any official capacity, once that process is complete, there are six cast poised to enter negotiations as well. These are all cast who will be carrying on their roles from season 15 of the series: Joe Mantegna as David Rossi, Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia, Adam Rodriguez as Luke Alvez, A.J. Cook as Jennifer Jareau, Aisha Tyler as Dr. Tara Lewis, and Paget Brewster as Emily Prentiss.
Two cast who are conspicuously absent from this list are Daniel Henney, who plays Matt Simmons, and Matthew Gray Gubler, who has appeared on every episode of the series as Dr. Spencer Reid. Daniel Henney is busy appearing as Lan Mandragoran on Amazon's massively successful fantasy series The Wheel of Time, which is currently in production on season 2. Gubler, on the other hand, is embracing his freedom from playing the character who dominated his career for a decade and a half.
The renewal of Criminal Minds has had a rather quick turnaround, so season 16 will likely be much more of a direct continuation than a reboot. Whereas there were years and even decades separating revival series like Will & Grace and Dexter: New Blood from their original series, Criminal Minds is merely following the slightly delayed release schedule that isn't particularly uncommon in the pandemic era. Hopefully this means that they will be able to easily recapture the magic that kept audiences hooked for 15 seasons.
Source: Deadline
