The latest installment of the Criminal Minds franchise, Criminal Minds: Evolution premiered on November 24, 2022, on Paramount+. Longtime Criminal Minds showrunner Erica Messer is back at the helm along with executive producers and writers Breen Frazier and Christopher Barbour, director and executive producer Glenn Kershaw, and executive producer Mark Gordon. Criminal Minds: Evolution is a revival of the 2005 series that ended in 2020. Due to its big fanbase, Paramount+ brought back everyone's favorite members of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU). Beginning three years after the finale of the original series, Criminal Minds: Evolution follows the gang hunting down a network of serial killers that has festered and grown its numbers during the isolating period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, everyone has spread out, carving their own paths, but a new threat draws them back together.
If you're curious and want to learn more about Criminal Minds: Evolution's characters and cast, take a look down below to find out which characters from the original series are coming back and which aren't, and who's playing the new UnSub.
Paget Brewster as Emily Prentiss
Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) is busy navigating the bureaucracy and politics of the multiple departments she now oversees as the new Unit Chief. She's torn between the desire to chase more serial killers and following the agenda of her superiors, who want agents to focus on domestic terrorism. Paget Brewster plays Emily Prentiss, who, in the original series, starts as a new agent transferred to the B.A.U. As time goes on, she's proven her tenacity and skill, pursuing killers and bringing them to justice. Emily is close with J.J. and Penelope since they are some of the only women in their unit. In the new series, it seems that Emily is growing tired of the constraints of her cushy new position and finds herself drawn back to the B.A.U.
Brewster first received public recognition for her role as Kathy on Friends, but her role as Emily Prentiss in Criminal Minds is considered her breakout role. She was a regular cast member of the series from 2006 to 2016.
Joe Mantegna as David Rossi
Criminal Minds: Evolution finds David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) contending with overwhelming grief after losing a loved one. To cope, he throws himself back into work: chasing leads that might solve the gruesome murder of a Virginia family. Disheveled, depressed, and living out of a hotel room, the only thing that David has to look forward to these days is the case he's solving. After a family is murdered in Virginia, Rossi ends up following a lead in Maryland that just might be connected to the case.
Mantegna has been in show business since 1969 when he debuted as a part of the Chicago cast of the musical Hair. Since then, he's had a prolific career on the stage and earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by David Mamet, Glengarry Glen Ross. Later, he moved to television, starring on Criminal Minds as David Rossi for over a decade from 2007 to 2020.
Aisha Tyler as Dr. Tara Lewis
Aisha Tyler stars as Dr. Tara Lewis, reintroducing audiences to the fascinating forensic psychologist and Supervisory Special Agent of the BAU. We meet Tara making headway on a case alongside Luke, opening up a shipping container filled with bodies that may or may not be the work of a serial killer that has gone unnoticed for fifteen years. Beyond her disturbing discoveries, things seem to be looking up for Tara as she just began dating a coworker, leading her fellow agents to rib her about it. Outside of her role on Criminal Minds from 2015 to 2020, Tyler is also a prolific voice actress and has been the voice behind Lana Kane on Archer since 2009. She also won a Daytime Emmy for co-hosting CBS' The Talk. Most recently, she's lent her voice to The Boys Presents: Diabolical and starred as herself in The Boys' infamous "Herogasm" episode.
A.J. Cook as Jennifer "J.J." Jareau
J.J., in the original series, acted as the liaison between the BAU, local media, and police agencies, and throughout the series, she became a full-time profiler. She has been married to Will LaMontagne Jr. for a while, they have two kids and love each other, but they are struggling to reignite that spark that made them so drawn to each other in the first place. Although she is best known for her role as Supervisory Special Agent J.J., A.J. Cook has also appeared in Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides and the 2003 horror flick Final Destination 2.
Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia
Resident tech wizard and white hat, Penelope Garcia, is a fan favorite whose witty banter and quirky demeanor have made her an integral part of the BAU. But when we first meet her on Criminal Minds: Evolution, Garcia abandoned her post in favor of self-care, tired of the constant stress and trauma she has dealt with investigating serial killers daily. Luke approaches her in desperate need of her help, but she isn't necessarily excited to return to the BAU. Kirsten Vangsness is best known for her work in the Criminal Minds franchise having reprised her role beyond the original series, appearing in spinoffs like Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.
Adam Rodriguez as Luke Valdez
Adam Rodriguez stars as Luke Valdez, a Task Force Agent joining Dr. Tara Lewis in solving a new case in Yakima County, Washington, where they make an undeniably gruesome discovery. Luke seeks Penelope Garcia's help in the case, partially motivated by lingering feelings for her. In the original series finale, Luke asked Penelope out, but the audience didn't get to see what happened. Hopefully, Criminal Minds: Evolution will answer whether Luke and Penelope will get together. Rodriguez is no stranger to procedural dramas, having starred in a breakout role as Eric Delko on CSI: Miami. He's also had recurring roles on shows like Ugly Betty, Jane the Virgin, and Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.
Josh Stewart as Will LaMontagne Jr.
Josh Stewart is back as J.J.'s sweet and loving husband, Detective Will LaMontagne Jr. They've been together since the events of the original series and have two kids. This power couple is back, but not without a few hiccups in their relationship, both having grown apart. But with their long history together, here's to hoping they will make it. Besides his role as Will, Josh Stewart is best known for his role as Holt McLaren on FX's Dirt. He's also had roles in The Dark Knight Rises, War Machine, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Interstellar. He also played John Pilgrim, the sadistic main villain of Season 2 of Netflix's The Punisher.
Zach Gilford as Elias Voit
Elias Voit, the new big bad (or UnSub as the agents say), is played by Zach Gilford. Gilford is terrifying as a seemingly normal operations analyst at a cybersecurity firm who moonlights as the mastermind behind a network connecting serial killers from all over the country. Gilford got his big break as Matt Saracen in Friday Night Lights and recently has had roles in smash hits like Netflix's Midnight Mass and NBC's Good Girls.
Apart from these actors, Nicole Pacent also stars as recurring character Rebecca.