‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ Returns May 8 With a Twisted New Game of Cat and Mouse [TRAILER]

The BAU is back—and this time, they’re playing a dangerous game they may not be able to control.

Paramount+ just dropped the official trailer and key art for Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18, and if the sneak peek is anything to go by, this season is bringing the chaos and the complications. The new chapter of the long-running thriller premieres Thursday, May 8, with episodes rolling out weekly until the July 10 finale.

Back for the madness are familiar faces: Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, and Adam Rodriguez. Paget Brewster also returns as Emily Prentiss, with RJ Hatanaka joining the core cast.

Picking up six months after a violent prison attack on serial killer Elias Voit (played with chilling glee by Zach Gilford), the story now shifts to the fallout. Voit’s dark web disciples are running wild across the country—unleashing their own brand of horror without restraint. With innocent lives on the line, the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) is forced into a dangerous partnership with the man they once hunted: Voit himself. But make no mistake—he’s not just helping. He has his own game to play.

It’s a plot twist straight out of a thriller novel: team up with the psychopath to catch the other psychopaths. And if that’s not messy enough, the team finds themselves juggling mistrust, misdirection, and motives that shift like shadows.

Erica Messer returns as showrunner—seasoned, steady, and clearly not squeamish. She leads a veteran team of executive producers including Chris Barbour, Glenn Kershaw, Breen Frazier, and Mark Gordon. The series is produced by 20th Television and CBS Studios.

And for those wondering: yes, someone is probably going to be buried alive again this season. Because what’s a season of Criminal Minds without a few truly unhinged set pieces in the name of justice?

Season 18 isn’t just business as usual—it’s a battle of minds, egos, and control. And this time, the line between hunter and hunted is razor-thin.

New episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution drop every Thursday starting May 8, exclusively on Paramount+.