Luca & More OG S.W.A.T. Team Returns In Exiles Spinoff Addressed By Shemar Moore (Exclusive)

EXCLUSIVE: When will other members of the S.W.A.T. team return?

Franchise star Shemar Moore has addressed whether Luca and more original members of the team from S.W.A.T. could show up in the ongoing sequel series, S.W.A.T. Exiles. The new show sees Moore reprise his role as Sergeant II Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson Jr., the protagonist from the original. He's pulled out of early retirement and thrust into a new world, training an experimental team of unpredictable rookies. S.W.A.T. Exiles reviews have pointed out it's a new era for the show, with Moore as the only returning main cast member.

In an interview with ScreenRant's Grant Hermanns for our S.W.A.T. Exiles cover story, Moore addressed how frequently other familiar faces from the original show will appear in its new sequel. He explained the two-year time jump in the story coupled with Hondo's new mission means his old teammates aren't front-and-center anymore. However, he teased the return of Deacon, Hicks, and Tan during season 1, while addressing the series' early renewal for season 2 as opening the door for even more guest returns.

Check out what Moore had to say below:

Well, the world of the OG squad, the mothership, the world, all those characters still exist. This is still the S.W.A.T. universe, it's just two years later, and politics have been taken over, and the word "exiles" is twofold. You got a bunch of Bad News Bears rugrats that Hondo has brought together, and he has to train them into being badass superheroes and they can't get out of their own way, and that's on purpose by the machine. He's been given a team that is just set up to fail and so, of course, Hondo's going to have to take on that challenge, and defy the odds and basically turn them into something nobody believed they could be.

But it was tough to basically put on a new uniform without my old squad. But for Sony to believe in the franchise, for Starz to come along, for all of them to believe in me and what we built, it's bigger than me. The crew is there, but now you're going to meet a new group of people, and it's their turn to get their shot, so not only am I Hondo being the coach, the quarterback, the teacher, the daddy. Hondo has nothing left to prove, he just has to sustain and finish what he started, so now he gets to be a coach, and a teacher, and spread his knowledge and wisdom and skillset onto these youngsters, so they can get their shot, and that's exciting.

I'm not going to tell you when they show up. But you're going to see a little bit of Deacon, you're going to see a little bit of Tan, you're going to see a little bit of Hicks and that's season 1. In season 2, anything's possible, because Hondo's world still exists.

But we're having a lot of fun, and I think we all agree that it's important to keep Hondo's old world alive. But the focus is going to be on the new chapter, Hondo and this new team, but you will see members of the old squad — assuming in real life they're available, they're not too busy with the business aspect of it all — from Deacon to Hicks, to Tan, to Luca, to Chris, to Street, Alfaro, Powell. It's fun to bring that world back and I think you will continue to see that.

While the show takes place a few years after the end of S.W.A.T., so far, Hondo remains the only character who's returning in a main capacity. The first episode, which aired Friday, September 25 on Starz, focused on establishing the new premise, alongside the rookie team Hondo will be training. It establishes the focus is on him and the newcomers to the franchise. As of writing, it's unclear when returning characters are going to be showing up in the spinoff, nor how big a role they'll have in their respective episodes.

S.W.A.T. Exiles comes after CBS cancelled the original series for a third time. While the show was originally supposed to end with season 6, pushback from fans and from Moore himself earned the series a shortened season 7, meant to be its last. Following high ratings, however, season 8 was greenlit, only for dwindling viewership to bring an end to the show once again. The new Starz series is both a continuation and a new story altogether, explaining why the rest of Hondo's team doesn't return in a main capacity.

MovieStillsDB

While it's unclear when other characters from S.W.A.T. will come back, Moore's statement suggests anything's possible for the series moving forward. Luca and other team members whose reprisals haven't been confirmed may still return in season 2. Since its development is ongoing, it allows for more wiggle room to bring familiar faces back, should the series allow for it. As of writing, however, only Deacon, Hicks, and Tan have been confirmed to return.

With a whopping nine episodes left in S.W.A.T. Exiles, the series could deliver any number of surprises. It's clear a number of cast members from the original are receptive to returning, indicative of how often the show may feature a familiar face from the past. Since there's still plenty of time left for the series to embrace the original, the door is open for anyone to come back to the show, more closely tying it to the original.

Cast

• 

  Shemar Moore

  David 'Deacon' Kay

• 

  Jay Harrington

  Daniel 'Hondo' Harrelson Jr.

• 

  Patrick St. Esprit

  Robert 'Bob' Hicks

• 

  Lucy Barrett

  Sammy 'Sam' Bishop

S.W.A.T. Exiles follows Daniel 'Hondo' Harrelson, who is brought out of retirement to lead an experimental SWAT unit of young, untested recruits.