{"id":18057,"date":"2026-07-26T18:11:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T13:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=18057"},"modified":"2026-07-26T18:11:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T13:11:45","slug":"the-rookie-creator-reveals-supersized-season-9-premiere-at-comic-con","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=18057","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;The Rookie&#8217; Creator Reveals Supersized Season 9 Premiere At Comic-Con"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t<em><a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/the-rookie\/\" id=\"auto-tag_the-rookie\" data-tag=\"the-rookie\">The Rookie<\/a><\/em> creator <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/alexi-hawley\/\" id=\"auto-tag_alexi-hawley\" data-tag=\"alexi-hawley\">Alexi Hawley<\/a> and the cast, led by <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/nathan-fillion\/\" id=\"auto-tag_nathan-fillion\" data-tag=\"nathan-fillion\">Nathan Fillion<\/a>, made a return to <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/comic-con\/\" id=\"auto-tag_comic-con\" data-tag=\"comic-con\">Comic-Con<\/a> with some news about ABC series\u2019 upcoming ninth season. It started production this week without Fillion, who will join the rest on set Monday but was reunited with his colleagues during the show\u2019s Comic-Con panel Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tHawley revealed that the Season 9 premiere will be supersized. \u201cIt\u2019s a two-parter, so it won\u2019t all be resolved in one episode \u2014 there\u2019s a lot going on,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s the best of what we do, it\u2019s incredibly high stakes, dramatic. It\u2019s a love story, it\u2019s funny and unexpected. I just wish everything up to wait till January to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThe last part is a reference to the fact that, as it has done for the past couple of seasons,<em>The Rookie <\/em>once again will launch its season in January.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t<strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2026\/05\/abc-fall-2026-schedule-bachelor-high-potential-the-rookie-1236898418\/\">ABC Fall 2026 Schedule: No \u2018Bachelor\u2019 Franchise Series, \u2018High Potential\u2019 &amp; \u2018Shifting Gears\u2019 Held For Midseason With \u2018The Rookie\u2019 &amp; \u2018Will Trent\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThe long wait may be excruciating for fans who, two and a half months on, are still reeling from the <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2026\/05\/the-rookie-season-8-finale-interview-tim-lucy-s9-spoilers-1236877818\/\">jaw-dropping Season 8 finale cliffhanger<\/a> in which Tim (Eric Winter) and Lucy (Melissa O\u2019Neil) were abducted seconds after she had accepted his romantic sunset beach proposal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tFans in the Indigo Ballroom were vocal about it when O\u2019Neil asked how they felt about the \u201crollercoaster\u201d final scene during the panel, prompting series star Nathan Fillion to step in with, \u201cShow of hands \u2014 who had a conniption in their living room?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tAfter seeing the sea of hands, O\u2019Neil felt bad about it. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t<strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2026\/05\/the-rookie-north-series-abc-premiere-window-jay-ellis-1236881912\/\">\u2018The Rookie: North\u2019 Picked Up To Series By ABC; Spinoff Eyes Midseason Run Alongside Mothership, Setting Up Crossovers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t\u201cOh no! We will send you some magnesium to calm you down, have a nice little bit of tea,\u201d she joked, adding, \u201cWe\u2019re so sorry for that, but also thank you for going along for the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tSeason 9 will kick off in the wake of the kidnapping cliffhanger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re definitely gonna start that way, figure out where they are, and figure out how to get them back, and whatever obstacles we can put in their way on that,\u201d Hawley <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2026\/05\/the-rookie-season-8-finale-interview-tim-lucy-s9-spoilers-1236877818\/\">told Deadline<\/a> in May. \u201cAnd then seeing Tim and Lucy wherever they are, I don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to sit idly by and wait to be rescued.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tAt Comic-Con, O\u2019Neil was asked about her reaction when she first read the beach scene in the finale script, written by Hawley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t\u201cHonestly, when I was reading it the first time it was like, \u2018I can\u2019t believe he\u2019s finally giving it to them, I\u2019m in shock,&#8217;\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then the next moment I was like, \u2018See? I knew he wasn\u2019t going to give it to them.\u2019 And also, admittedly, my heart went out to everyone who\u2019s deeply invested because I was like, \u2018This is gonna be hard.\u2019 So thank you for being so invested. But I went on the rollercoaster with you guys. It was great.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tAs for filming the scene, she said, \u201cIt was very rushed to shoot that day, though, it was very unceremonious. We were chasing the light.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tAdded Winter, \u201cYeah, we timed it to the sunset. It was interesting, the whole thing was moving quick. We had to knock it out. But I think seeing that script was surprising, and it made me laugh. Kind of like, ha-ha, really bad. It was great.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tHere is a video:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Rookie\u2019s Melissa O\u2019Neil  and Eric Winter \u201capologize\u201d and are \u201csorry\u201d for the wild emotional roller coaster that was the Season 8 finale at <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/SDCC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">#SDCC<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xBG7vGzOFQ\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/xBG7vGzOFQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Deadline (@DEADLINE) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DEADLINE\/status\/2081124739691815249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">July 25, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tBelow are Fillion\u2019s comments about the joy of working on <em>The Rookie<\/em> where \u201cmy worst day is a great day.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Nathan Fillion says he\u2019s excited for all the fun he\u2019s going to have (and thanks the fans for their support) when he starts filming Season 9 of The Rookie on Monday. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/SDCC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">#SDCC<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/l5JxzpAOAf\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/l5JxzpAOAf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Deadline (@DEADLINE) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DEADLINE\/status\/2081126779847311742?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">July 25, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThe panel was crashed by Jay Ellis, star of the <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2026\/05\/the-rookie-north-series-abc-premiere-window-jay-ellis-1236881912\/\">upcoming spinoff <em>The Rookie: North<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em>which also premieres in January on ABC. As a novice to the franchise, he asked <em>The Rookie<\/em> cast for advice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tFillion: \u201cLearn everybody\u2019s name. It make is much easier to apologize if ever you are late.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tShawn Ashmore: \u201cStretch before stunts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tRichard T. Jones: \u201cPadding. Don\u2019t be too masculine, use kneepads.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"\/>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t<em>Destiny Jackson contributed to this report. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Rookie creator Alexi Hawley and the cast, led by Nathan Fillion, made a return to Comic-Con with some news about ABC series\u2019 upcoming ninth season. It started production this week without Fillion, who will join the rest on set Monday but was reunited with his colleagues during the show\u2019s Comic-Con panel Saturday. Hawley revealed&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/RookieFinaleBeach.jpg?w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}