The FBI universe is losing two spinoffs for the 2025-2026 season — but CIA is hoping to fill that crime-fighting void and offer crossover opportunities.
“We’re going to take what the FBI guys have set up in that kind world,” CIA star Tom Ellis exclusively told Us Weekly at CBS Fest 2025 on Wednesday, May 7. “We’re going to then visit it through the eyes of the CIA.”
The actor, 46, teased, “We might get a little bit of crossover with FBI from time to time, but ultimately, this is going to be about how the CIA goes about its business on homeland soil and why it’s important that these very different bureaus share information with each other and how for the greater good.”
Ellis explained that “it would be better if they did a little bit more of cross-pollinating, basically,” but that won’t always be easy.
CBS announced in April that CIA, which will live in the same universe as Dick Wolf’s FBI, was greenlit for the 2025-2026 broadcast season. FBI currently stars Zeeko Zaki, Missy Peregrym, Jeremy Sisto, John Boyd and Alana De La Garza.
CIA, meanwhile, will be a one-hour show centered on “two unlikely partners,” one a “fast-talking, rule breaking loose cannon CIA case officer” played by Ellis and a “by-the-book, seasoned and smart FBI agent who believes in the rule of law,” the official logline reads.
“When this odd couple are assigned to work out of CIA’s New York Station, they must learn to work together to investigate cases and criminals posing threats on U.S. soil, finding that their differences may actually be their strength,” CBS noted in a press release.
Ellis remained somewhat tight-lipped about what’s to come during season 1 but confirmed to Us on Wednesday that the center of the show is the “unlikely, odd couple” of his CIA agent and the opposite FBI agent.
The Lucifer alum described his character as someone who doesn’t “play by the laws” because he must be “a lot more conniving than that.” Ellis’ counterpart on the show by comparison is “very much buttoned up.”
Ellis pointed out that they both have “the shared objective” of solving cases. “They just have different philosophies about getting there. And that’s the fun,” he teased.
While fans can anticipate possible FBI crossovers down the line, CIA will follow different characters — and won’t be a direct spinoff like FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted.
Earlier this year, CBS announced that International — with Jesse Lee Soffer at the helm — and Most Wanted — with Dylan McDermott as the star — would not be returning for its respective fifth or seventh seasons despite having a big fandom. (FBI’s season 7 finale airs on Tuesday, May 20, and the spinoffs series’ finales follow the same day.)
“It’s not easy to end shows and we had a lot of options this year,” CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach told reporters during CBS’ schedule announcement on Wednesday. “The schedule is really full and so we always have to look at all of our shows, look at the aggregate information, the creative of where they are in their life cycle, what the finances look like, what the ratings are, and then we make those tough decisions.”
The FBI flagship series will return for season 8 come fall and will be followed by CIA Tuesday nights.
As fans wait to see what CIA is about, Ellis told Us he’s “very excited” to be part of the network and Wolf’s slate of shows. He noted that the fan response has been “amazing” — especially since they haven’t even released any footage yet.
“It’s been a kind of view for the window of what the Dick Wolf universe means to a lot of people,” Ellis said on Wednesday. “It’s very exciting for me to use the energy that these other people have created in which to launch. But I’m just very excited about being part of this family now.”
