In the wildest twist of events even the BAU never saw coming, Dr. Spencer Reid is officially returning to the Criminal Minds universe.
Ever since Criminal Minds: Evolution debuted on Paramount+ in November 2022, fans have been begging to see Matthew Gray Gubler return to his beloved role in some shape or form. While the reboot continually mentions how Reid is away from the BAU for what they call "a special assignment," it looks like we're finally going to get to know what he's been up to since the original series concluded in 2020.
Matthew revealed the surprise news when speaking to the Italian outlet Ansa in an article published on December 5, where he was asked about what his future plans looked like in his career. Along with working on other sentimental projects, he dropped the bombshell of stepping back into Reid's shoes for what appears to be Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3.
"I shot a new episode of Criminal Minds," he shared with the publication, translated from Italian. "I'm working on a film about Halloween, and I'm doing shows, comedies in theaters around America."
When the news of Matthew's return went viral on X (formerly Twitter), it didn't take long for fans to lose it over the announcement.
"SPENCER REID IS BACK????? THANK GOD," one person wrote. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN SPENCER REID IS COMING BACK TO CRIMINAL MINDS," another screamed. "THE SPENCER REID IS BACK ON CRIMINAL MINDS WHOS CELEBRATING WITH ME #CriminalMinds," a different follower added.
As someone who hasn't been on television since appearing in Doll Face season 2 in 2021, this definitely caught us off guard in the best way possible. What's more, he's been alluding to his impending return for a while now. As he shared with Good Housekeeping back in September 2023, his comeback on TV was always inevitable — it just depended on when.
"I am sure I'll go back to comedy and to acting and all of that," he stated at the time." I'm just not sure when, but I know I look forward to it. I really love doing everything."
So, what can fans expect from Reid now that we know he's making his way back to the BAU? While this seems to be under wraps, we know that whatever he does, it'll definitely help his fellow FBI agents solve the case of the week (or season).
And as previously reported, this isn't Matthew's only TV return in the coming months. He's busy working on a new TV pilot for CBS called Einstein, where he portrays a lackadaisical popular Princeton University professor (who's also related to Albert Einstein) who uses his genius to help with local homicide cases.
This makes us so happy!
As the entertainment and news associate editor for Good Housekeeping, Adrianna (she/her) writes about everything TV, movies, music and pop culture. She graduated from Yeshiva University with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in business management. She covers shows like The Rookie, 9-1-1 and Grey's Anatomy, though when she’s not watching the latest show on Netflix, she’s taking martial arts or drinking way too much coffee.
