S.W.A.T. Exiles: Everything We Know About Shemar Moore's Spin-Off

Usually, TV shows save the "will they/won't they" storylines for the actual show itself, but S.W.A.T. had one of those plots behind the scenes as well. CBS actually canceled and then un-canceled S.W.A.T. twice until it was finally put down for good this spring. That is, until it turned out that Sony TV and star Shemar Moore, who'd lobbied loudly and frequently for the series to return after each cancellation, had one more trick up his sleeve: a new spin-off show called S.W.A.T. Exiles that will focus on Moore's character Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson as he sets out on a new adventure.

Moving on to a sequel series, essentially, apes a nearly identical move made with Blue Bloods, another recently ended CBS show that had been around forever. That series is moving star Donnie Wahlberg from New York City to Boston for a new spin-off this fall that leaves Tom Selleck and company behind in the Big Apple. S.W.A.T. Exiles, by contrast, is still keeping Moore in L.A., which would make it hypothetically very easy for former cast members to pop in at any time. 

Let's see what we know so far about S.W.A.T. Exiles.

S.W.A.T. Exiles latest news

The spinoff series now has a cast, and has begun shooting its first season in Los Angeles — and two key folks from the main series will be taking part in at least one episode. Finally, this new iteration of S.W.A.T. is feeling very real. 

The folks coming back from the main series are Jay Harrington's Deacon Kay and Patrick St. Esprit's Commander Robert Hicks, who Sony says will pop up in the first episode of the new series, presumably to bridge the gap between the two stories.

The main cast members will be playing Hondo's new team of young folks that he'll be commanding on the series. The new squad will be played by Lucy Barrett, Adain Bradley, Freddy Miyares, Zyra Gorecki, and Ronen Rubinstein. We've also got a list of characters they'll play, from an earlier scoop, but we don't know for sure who's playing who. More on that in the cast section below.

S.W.A.T. Exiles expected premiere date

Sony TV has ordered a 10-episode first season of S.W.A.T. Exiles that is currently in production, but right now the series is missing something pretty important: a network or streamer to actually air the episodes. That makes it tough to guess when we'll see these episodes, but with how quickly Sony is moving it's very possible that S.W.A.T. Exiles will have its premiere sometime in the first half of 2026.

Where will we be able to watch S.W.A.T. Exiles?

Sony is the only major Hollywood movie studio that doesn't have its own streaming service, so Sony-produced series tend to show up all over the place — nearly every network and streaming service has Sony stuff. Case in point is S.W.A.T. itself, which aired on CBS but streams on Netflix.

That means that S.W.A.T. Exiles could end up pretty much anywhere. If Netflix likes the way the main series has performed on its service, then that might be a natural landing spot for S.W.A.T. Exiles as well. A home on linear TV, like CBS, is also possible, considering that network is doing a similar reboot with Blue Bloods. However, with an "edgier" tone and a 10-episode first season, it really feels like this is being made with streaming in mind.

What will S.W.A.T. Exiles be about?

After a big mission goes wrong, Hondo is called out of retirement to run a new, experimental S.W.A.T. unit made up of young and inexperienced folks. Hondo will have to work extra hard to relate to the new squad given the large generation gap — it's likely that Sony took inspiration from the recent Bad Boys movies, which have a similar story bent and were also Sony productions.

In a lengthy interview with Variety, Sony TV boss Katherine Pope described the spin-off like this:

"It's a bit of a take on the culture generation clash of Gen X versus Gen Z. Where Hondo is all about duty, hierarchy, and chain of command, the Gen Zers are a little more like, 'I might need to take a mental health day. I want to talk about it. I want to understand it.' It's kind of our take on Top Gun Maverick. How do you actually learn from each other? How do we build bridges around not just generational divides, but all forms of divide? There's a lot of division going on in our world. If we just took some time to listen and to try and be part of a team, and what that really means, it would probably be better for all of us."

It's worth noting that Hondo was definitely not retired at the end of the S.W.A.T. finale, so you can probably expect a multi-year time skip. 

S.W.A.T. Exiles cast and crew

S.W.A.T. Exiles will be run by Jason Ning, who recently served as showrunner on Fox's Lucifer. Shemar Moore will play the lead role of Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson, and he'll be in charge of a new group of Gen Z squaddies played by Lucy Barrett, Adain Bradley, Freddy Miyares, Zyra Gorecki, and Ronen Rubinstein. 

TVLine had a scoop back in the summer about the characters those folks will be playing. They described these new characters like so: "a charismatic, Black former Marine from South Central; an undercover cop with a questionable shooting in his past; an amputee who was at the top of her class at the academy and refuses to ride a desk; a tactical prodigy with a disruptive lack of social skills; and a former beauty queen who now works as a law enforcement 'influencer.' "

The first character is the most intriguing of the group, because it actually describes Hondo himself — it could be that Hondo will see this person as a younger version of himself that he can mentor.

Despite the fact that we know both the cast members and the characters, we don't actually know who's playing which part just yet. 

S.W.A.T. Exiles cast list

• Shemar Moore as Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson
• Lucy Barrett 
• Adain Bradley
• Freddy Miyares
• Zyra Gorecki
• Ronen Rubinstein
• Jay Harrington as Sergeant David "Deacon" Kay
• Patrick St. Esprit as Commander Robert Hicks

What the heck actually happened with S.W.A.T.?

S.W.A.T. was canceled for a third time following its eighth season in March 2025, and this time there was no rescue from CBS, Sony, or anyone else. So despite the fact that the series ended with the squad intact, and without any kind of real ending, the story of Twenty Squad has come to an end. 

The reason for the switch to a spin-off series is probably an issue that studio bookkeepers are always wrestling with — the longer a series runs, the more expensive the returning cast becomes as main cast members typically receive a pay bump with each new season. When S.W.A.T. was rescued from cancellation last year, it also dumped some longtime cast members to slim down those costs a bit. Apparently that wasn't enough.

The announcement of the spin-off series, and the news that Shemar Moore would be the only cast member coming back for it, was a surprise not only for fans but for the S.W.A.T. cast members being left behind. S.W.A.T. star David Lim posted on Instagram that he and the others felt "brushed aside" by the news.

"I'd be lying if I said the rollout of the new spin-off didn't sting. It was tough to see it announced just two days after our finale — with no mention of the cast who helped build S.W.A.T. from day one. After 8 incredible seasons, it felt like we were brushed aside when there could've been a moment of reflection and recognition — for the people who built this show, and for the impact it had on so many."

Moore responded by calling himself "the Tom Brady of S.W.A.T." and compared the move to a spin-off with football teammates being traded.

"Just like in sports, Tom Brady might be the quarterback, but people get traded. Tight end gets traded, the right running back gets traded, the receivers get traded, but the teams keep on pushing with their quarterback, and I'm that guy. So proud, so grateful. Not going to apologize for nothing. Busted my ass for 31 years to do what I do, and excited about the future." It's not the best metaphor, because when football players are traded to another team, they still have a job.

Where to watch S.W.A.T.

The first seven seasons of S.W.A.T. are streaming on Netflix, and Season 8 is available on Hulu.