Recent news about Paramount+’s Criminal Minds: Evolution (2022–) makes fan-favorite character Spencer Reid’s (Matthew Gray Gubler) return even more likely. A continuation of the original Criminal Minds, which aired from 2005 to 2020 on network television, Evolution serves as the sixteenth season of the once-canceled series. Unlike the franchise’s two incredibly short-lived spin-off series, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Evolution centers on many of the original show’s long-standing criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU).

With just a few exceptions, Criminal Minds: Evolution retained the cast of characters most central to the series, including David Rossi (Joe Mantegna), Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster), Jennifer Jareau (A.J. Cook), Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness), Luke Alvez (Adam Rodriguez), and Dr. Tara Lewis (Aisha Tyler). Notably, two key cast members didn’t join Evolution‘s first season: Shemar Moore’s Derek Morgan and Gubler’s Spencer Reid. With Shemar Moore leading S.W.A.T., his Criminal Minds return is more complicated. On the other hand, Gubler’s genius FBI profiler has a more plausible avenue for a Criminal Minds: Evolution return.

Criminal Minds: Evolution’s Season 3 Renewal Makes A Spencer Reid Return More Likely

Matthew Gray Gubler & Evolution’s Showrunners Remain Open To The Idea

Criminal Minds: Evolution season 2 began airing on June 6, 2024, and will continue its slim 10-episode run through August 1. While the reappearance of Ryan-James Hatanaka’s Tyler Green makes Reid’s BAU return less likely in the sophomore outing, a recent series update provides a more hopeful outlook. Continuing its impressive run, Criminal Minds: Evolution was renewed for season 3, and while Matthew Gray Gubler has yet to comment on a potential third-season return, the very fact that Evolution is continuing increases the odds of viewers seeing Spencer Reid reunite with his BAU pals.

If Matthew Gray Gubler’s Spencer Reid was going to return for Criminal Minds: Evolution season 2, the news probably would have come out by now. Unless a surprise Reid appearance is Hollywood’s most well-kept secret, confirmation of Evolution‘s third outing keeps hope alive for Spencer’s eventual comeback. After all, the fan-favorite actor is open to the idea, with scheduling conflicts cited as the key reason Reid hasn’t returned for the beloved series’ sixteenth and seventeenth seasons. However, the longer Evolution continues, the more inevitable Reid’s return to Criminal Minds becomes.

How Matthew Gray Gubler Could Return As Reid In Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 3

Evolution Has Already Set Up Spencer Reid’s Return To The BAU

In the finale of the original run of Criminal Minds, Reid suffers from intracranial bleeding, causing him to hallucinate. While his condition is touch-and-go for a while, the genius profiler eventually makes a full recovery. Although the character has been notably absent from Paramount+’s continuation of the show, Criminal Minds: Evolution hinted at Spencer Reid’s return. In “Just Getting Started,” Deputy Director Bailey (Nicholas D’Agosto) reveals that Reid and fellow agent Matthew Simmons (Daniel Henney) are on classified assignments, adding that the characters’ decisions to return to the BAU rests solely in their hands.