The story surrounding the characters ofS.W.A.T.outside ofShemar Moore’s Hondo seemed like it was fully closed following the series’ finale last month. But, that might not be the case after all. While catching up with Deadline at the Banff TV Festival, Sony Pictures Television Chairman,Keith LeGoy, teased that there might be more to come from Hondo’s longtime partners. Shortly after the show received its cancellation (its third cancellation at that), it was announced that Sony would be picking up the leading character and tossing him into his own spin-off. TitledS.W.A.T. Exiles, the show is said to follow Hondo as he leads a group of up-and-coming crime-fighting tactical professionals. For now, Moore is the only alumnus signed on for the production, but LeGoy says there’s a very good chance that could change, telling Deadline,
“There is aS.W.A.Tfamily andthat family is important. We would love to have other family members involved in some way, whether it’s all of them all of the time, some of them some of the time, or something in between. That’s something that we are still figuring out.”
LeGoy’s comments come following numerous members ofS.W.A.T.’s original team stepping out and sharing their upset over the off-shoot only involving Moore’s character. Taking to Instagram to open up about the highs and lows of the eight-season-running production, series regular,David Lim, previously said that the news ofS.W.A.T.Exilescame as a “sting”. He went on to speak on behalf of his fellow performers, adding, “After 8 incredible seasons, it felt like we were brushed aside.” Then, just last week, Lim and Moore’s fellow regular,Jay Harrington, told TV Line that he had “not once” heard so much as a whisper about a spin-off. And, while this isn’t necessarily the first time thatSony has teased the possibilityof ex-S.W.A.T.members joining in the fun for its follow-up series, LeGoy’s comments certainly sound like they’re very much still up in the air.
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After all was said and done, Moore was finally allowed to share the good news aboutS.W.A.T. Exiles. And that he did. The series startook to social media on multiple occasionsto spread the word about the spin-off that would only feature his character. While it’s all well and good that Moore was moving on from the old series and striking out on his own, continuing to collect a paycheck, and keeping Hondo on television, some of his comments rubbed fans the wrong way — particularly when he referred to himself as“the Tom Brady ofS.W.A.T.”When it comes to the possibility that some of his ex co-stars might be upset with his words and attitude, it seems like responses are going to be on a case by case basis.
While Lim voiced his negative experience, Harrington said that he was happy to have been told aboutS.W.A.T. Exilesby Moore, revealing,
“Shemar reached out to all of us to say, ‘This is what’s going on…’ and, you know, there’s talk that they’ll reach out to us about stuff. He wanted to be the one to tell us.”
As of right now, no release window has been set forS.W.A.T. Exiles, but the original series is now streaming on Paramount+.
