"Criminal Minds" will tap Damon Gupton to replace actor Thomas Gibson who was fired from the hit series. It remains to be seen if Gupton will lead the BAU team in the upcoming "Criminal Minds" Season 12.
It is said that "Criminal Minds" Season 12 may add more characters, to its cast in a way to cover the exit of key characters such as Gibson and Shemar Moore.
"Criminal Minds" fans are wondering why the creator of the show did not promote someone from the team. It was said that Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner could be replaced by Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster), but it was not verified by the producers of "Criminal Minds" Season 12.
According to News Everyday, Gupton is set to join the crime show as a new series regular and play the role of Special Agent Stephen Walker, an expert profiler, for "Criminal Minds" Season 12. His character is set to make a debut on the eight episode of season 12.
"Our BAU family is growing big," "Criminal Minds" showrunner Erica Messer said in a statement. "We are excited to have the presence of Damon in the show and work alongside our amazing cast and crew."
Yahoo News reported that Gupton will be joining the BAU with quite the law enforcement resume. According to the aforementioned source, Gupton is quite familiar to the role that he will be playing in "Criminal Minds" Season 12. Some of his previous roles include a detective on "Empire," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Prime Suspect" and "Bates Motel."
As for his new role on "Criminal Minds," Gupton is sure to change things as seasoned profiler Special Agent Stephen Walker, coming to the BAU from the Behavioral Analysis Program of the FBI.
Meanwhile, "Criminal Minds" Sept. 28 premiere left little indication of how Gibson will be exiting, though, it did introduce Adam Rodriguez's FBI Fugitive Task Force Agent Luke Alvez as another full-time member.
See "Criminal Minds" Season 12 teaser trailer in the video below, and tune in to "Criminal Minds" on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.