‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ Poster Shows the BAU’s Eerie New Villain

Paramount+ shared the new poster art for Criminal Minds: Evolution on Wednesday, giving fans a shadowy look at the show’s new villain. The image shows Friday Night Lights star Zach Gilford as Elias Voit, the new “unsub” who serves as the greatest threat the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit has ever seen. The new 10-episode series will feature the cast from Criminal Minds Season 15, except for Matthew Gray Gubler and Daniel Henney.

Criminal Minds: Evolution will debut on Thursday, Nov. 24, because nothing goes better with Thanksgiving turkey than hunting a serial killer. The first two episodes will be released on the holiday, with the next three being released weekly on Thursdays. The remaining five episodes will be released between Thursday, Jan. 12, and Thursday, Feb. 9. Unlike the original Criminal Minds series, Evolution will follow a single case.

Voit is the “greatest threat yet” for the BAU. During the coronavirus pandemic, he started a network to connect with other serial killers. Now that the world has opened up, Voit activates his network and the BAU has to hunt down these killers, one murder at a time. Erica Messer, who served as the Criminal Minds showrunner during most of its run, is back as executive producer.

The BAU will look familiar to fans, as almost everyone has returned. Joe Mantegna, Paget Brewster, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, and Adam Rodriguez are all back. Gubler and Henney are not returning, but Messer told TVLine their characters are “not forgotten.”

“Dr. Reid’s and I believe Matt Simmons’ desks are still there, still have stuff on it,” Messer said, suggesting that the two characters still work at the FBI. “Like, if any of you went back [to the office after the pandemic], you still have stuff on your desk that was there for two years. So we’re definitely playing that. But [Spencer and Matt] are not gone gone.” TVLine also published a series of new photos, including a better look at Gilford’s villain.

Criminal Minds began on CBS in September 2005 and was created by Jeff Davis. The show also inspired two short-lived spinoffs, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (2011) and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders (2016-2017). All episodes of the original series are streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S.