After FBI became a hit for CBS, the show that was co-created by Dick Wolf spawned an entire television franchise. The original series inspired three spin-offs, FBI: Most Wanted, FBI: International, and CIA, the last of which is set to premiere in 2026. The FBI franchise has undergone other recent changes, with the most notable example being two of those series being canceled.
As fans await the premiere of the original series' season 8 return, most of them want to know when they will learn about Isobel Castille's fate. However, they will also likely be interested to know that the show's return will also introduce a Law & Order: SVU actor. On top of that, it turns out that FBI's boss also wants to bring back an actor from the spin-off series, FBI: Most Wanted.
FBI's boss wants to bring Shantel VanSanten back
In September, TVLine published an article previewing what has been revealed about the upcoming fall television season. As a part of that article, the outlet spoke to FBI's showrunner, Mike Weiss, about the plans for the police procedural series' upcoming 8th season. As a part of that conversation, Mike revealed that he wants to bring Shantel VanSanten back to FBI as her character, Nina Chase. More importantly, Mike revealed how he wants FBI to portray Nina, if she makes that franchise comeback.
"“We also want to see Nina as the badass, fugitive recovery specialist that she is, helping us out a bit here and there.”"FBI showrunner Mike Weiss
Shantel first appeared as Nina as a recurring character who was part of FBI mainly during that show's fourth and fifth seasons. She also made a handful of appearances during that show's sixth and seventh seasons and showed up in one episode of FBI: International. After FBI's fifth season, Shantel went on to star in FBI: Most Wanted as the same character.
When FBI's showrunner, Mike Weiss, was talking to TVLine for the same article, he also described another reason why he was interested in Shantel VanSanten returning to FBI. The series' boss stated that he wanted to address the question that FBI: Most Wanted asked about Nina and Stuart Scola, “whether or not these two could, should be married.”
Since FBI's boss wants to bring Nina back and FBI: Most Wanted has ended, there doesn't seem to be any obvious reason why the character can't make her big return during the series’ upcoming 8th season.