Criminal Minds Showrunner Explains Why One Star Won’t Return After Wheel Of Time Cancellation

Criminal Minds: Evolution showrunner and executive producer Erica Messer explains why one former main cast member won’t return. Even though the crime drama recently wrapped up its third installment, Criminal Minds: Evolution season 4 is confirmed. It will likely feature the return of all the current BAU agents, with the wildcard Voit (Zach Gilford) still in play.

Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3 did feature the return of Matthew Gray Gubler as Spencer Reid, coming back briefly to offer emotional support to JJ (AJ Cook) at her husband’s funeral, which has reinvigorated discussions about whether other former Criminal Minds actors could potentially make their way back for the Paramount+ revival.

In comments to TVLine, Messer discussed why fans shouldn’t expect Daniel Henney to reprise the role of Matt Simmons next season. Even though Henney’s time with The Wheel of Time has come to an end, after the cancellation of the Prime Video fantasy series, Messer explains why the actor won’t be back:

“Oh man, I would love to” have Henney back. The thing is, “We started our writers room [for season 19] months ago,” and at this point they’re halfway done filming the 10 episodes.

“We carefully plot these things out and [scripts were locked down] before Wheel of Time was over. Look, I’ll never say never, right? But for season 19, anyway, we already had our season plotted before we knew the [cancellation] news. But we love Daniel. We love him.”

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What This Means For Henney’s Return To Criminal Minds

The Door Is Open

Messer makes clear that even though they’re well underway on the process of a new season, Henney could return down the line. Criminal Minds previously mentioned Henney is away on assignment, along with Reid. But the return of Reid, however brief, does demonstrate that the crime drama is invested in ways of honoring its history, even in ways that are small but meaningful.

Criminal Minds is not renewed beyond the next season. But it is quietly one of Paramount’s most popular shows, routinely making Nielsen’s Streaming Top 10. If there is a new season, and Henney is available, there are a lot of ways of folding the former series regular back into action. Although he wasn’t around for the series’ entire return, he quickly gelled with the franchise veterans.

Henney could make his way back as one of the people that is indifferent to Voit, depending on how the villain is brought back and in what capacity. He could also just be there to catch up with the team that he hasn’t seen recently, reconnecting with the Criminal Minds: Evolution characters after time apart.

Our Take On Matt Simmons’ Return

It’ll Likely Happen

Considering that Messer is open to Henney coming back, it may happen down the line. For years, fans had asked for Gubler to return as Reid and then circumstances allowed for it to finally happen. It could be the case that Henney follows a similar trajectory back to Criminal Minds: Evolution, but he’ll fit in where he left off overall.