‘FBI’ spinoff ‘CIA’ confirms recasting major character after Michael Michele's exit
The 'FBI' spinoff show titled 'CIA' has been in development since last September at CBS. In a recent turn of events, it has now been confirmed that a major character has been recast in the aftermath of Michael Michele's exit from 'CIA' earlier this month. Deadline reported that 'NCIS: New Orleans' alum Necar Zadegan would be joining the cast of 'CIA' as the important character of the Chief of Station. Zadegan is no stranger to playing law enforcement-based roles, as she was quite popular as Agent Hannah Khoury in 'NCIS: New Orleans' and as Dalia Hassan in the eighth season of '24'.
The 'FBI' universe has been undergoing a couple of major overhauls this season. Despite being hugely popular and once leading the prime time slots on CBS, the network recently took the drastic decision to pull 'FBI: Most Wanted' and 'FBI: International' off the air. The flagship show is the only one that remains on the network's related roster, and all in all, it seems as if it is the end of the franchise's supremacy on CBS. 'FBI' has gone through two different showrunners in the recent past as well, and is currently in its eighth season. A ninth season has been greenlit and is supposed to be in the works.
Similarly, 'CIA' has been suffering from quite a few changes of its own. According to another report by ScreenRant, production of the 'FBI' spinoff has now been stalled for about two weeks. The reason behind this is the exit of Warren Leight as the showrunner. Leight himself had replaced the original showrunner, i.e., David Hudgins, earlier this year in July. Leigh isn't the only one departing, however. Director and executive producer Eriq La Salle has left the show behind as well, and 'FBI' Mike Weiss is to be roped in as the new showrunner.
With so many critical changes going on behind the scenes, it isn't certain whether CBS will be able to debut 'CIA' on its previously promised winter release date on February 23, 2026. Nevertheless, the addition of Weiss and Zadegan would undoubtedly expedite the process. CBS had recently come out with the proposed time slot for 'CIA', which is supposed to hit the air at 10 PM, i.e., right after 'FBI'. The show is being produced by Universal Television, which is a subsidiary of the Universal Group, along with CBS Studios and Wolf Entertainment.
The storyline of 'CIA' follows two diametrically opposite officers. On one hand, there's a CIA agent played by Tom Ellis, who happens to be a subversive and boisterous loose cannon. On the other hand, there's an FBI agent played by Nick Gehlfuss, who is methodical and exacting in his approach and believes in doing everything by the book.
