Created by TV maven Dick Wolf, the series was essentially designed to be spun-off into a multi-series franchise, and it didn’t take long for CBS to launch a handful of successful spinoffs. Things were going swimmingly until the early months of 2025 when CBS opted to cancel FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International.

This stripped the franchise down to only the titular flagship series, and it seemed as if the network was winding down FBI after nearly a decade on the air. However, CBS clearly has other plans for the Dick Wolf creation, and an entirely new spinoff centered on the CIA is currently in the works.

FBI‘s CIA spinoff isn’t just an idea that’s being floated, it’s been green-lit and has already earned its spot on the network’s upcoming slate.

The FBI: CIA Spinoff Season 1 Latest News

The Spinoff’s Progress Hit A Snag

The original plan for FBI’s CIA spinoff series was to air it alongside FBI in the fall of 2025 on CBS. The series was even announced as part of the CBS fall schedule. That schedule, however, has since changed.

Scripts are being retooled ahead of moving forward with casting and production. Adding to the need for pushing CIA to a midseason premiere date is that a new showrunner is being brought on board. David Hudgins, who previously worked on FBI: Most Wanted, is one of the co-creators of the CIA spinoff and was the planned showrunner.

Amid the delays and retooling, Hudgins has left the series and is being replaced by Warren Leight. Leight is the former showrunner for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, another series under the Dick Wolf umbrella.

The FBI: CIA Spinoff Season 1 Is Confirmed

The Latest FBI Spinoff Will Go Straight To Series

Both Wolf and Hudgins also served as writers on the forthcoming episodes, meaning the creative duo’s fingerprints will be all over the debut season..

Dick Wolf and David Hudgins co-created the series, with the latter expected to serve as showrunner for season 1. Both Wolf and Hudgins also served as writers on the initial episodes, meaning the creative duo’s fingerprints will be all over the debut season, even though Hudgins has since left the series.

FBI is renewed through season 9.

This bodes well for FBI: CIA, as Wolf has a track record of success with police procedurals. However, the spinoff has big shoes to fill after the surprise cancellation of FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International in the early weeks of 2025.

Instead of becoming the fourth show in the franchise, FBI: CIA now joins the flagship series as the only two programs currently airing. If the spinoff doesn’t take off, it will likely destroy any chance of future spinoffs coming to air on CBS.

The FBI franchise includes:

Tom Ellis Will Headline The CIA Spinoff

Ellis’ co-star hasn’t been cast yet, but the as-yet-unnamed FBI agent is crucial to the show’s success.

Perhaps best known for his turn on Lucifer, Tom Ellis has signed on to lead the upcoming FBI: CIA spinoff. Ellis’ character is Hart Hoxton and is described as a loose-canon CIA agent who works out of the New York branch of the agency. Ellis has referenced Hoxton as someone with “moral ambiguity” when speaking about him: