5 S.W.A.T Characters We Hope Make A Guest Appearance On Exiles

We're midway through the first season of "S.W.A.T. Exiles," and while we're glad that several characters from CBS' "S.W.A.T." have made guest appearances, we can think of a few more familiar faces we'd like to see on the Starz spin-off.

Thus far, the series premiere reunited "S.W.A.T." fans with Commander Hicks (Patrick St. Esprit), who lured Hondo back into the organization, and Deacon Kay (Jay Harrington), who reminded Hondo what he's capable of during a friendly catch-up. It has also been confirmed that David Lim will return in an upcoming episode as Victor Tan. But even with Hondo in the mix, that's only four legacy characters to appear on "S.W.A.T. Exiles," and frankly, we're feeling a little greedy right now.

"It was initially important to make it feel like a different show," showrunner Jason Ning previously told TVLine about incorporating "S.W.A.T." characters into the spin-off. "If we had a bunch of the original cast, it would just feel like Season 9 of 'S.W.A.T.' It was very important to create its own identity."

Read on for a list of five "S.W.A.T." characters that we'd love to see on "S.W.A.T. Exiles" in some capacity, from Hondo's ex-wife to a pair of engaged fan favorites, then drop a comment with your own wishes. (For the record, the extended version of our list would include a lot more than five, but there's only so much space on the internet.)

As lovers of love, we were pretty disappointed when the series premiere of "S.W.A.T. Exiles" revealed that Hondo and Nichelle (Rochelle Aytes) have gotten divorced since the last time we saw them. Showrunner Jason Ning tells TVLine that the show will "absolutely unpack" the "layers" of what led to Hondo and Nichelle's split, but unless we get Aytes and Shemar Moore together on screen, we wonder if that exploration will pack the same punch. For what it's worth, we know that Aytes would be down to reprise her role. "We have a baby together, so if they wanna bring Nichelle back, I'm all for it," Aytes told PopCulture.com in October 2025 about possibly reuniting with Moore on the spin-off.

Speaking of reuniting on-screen couples, how could you not want to see more of Jim Street (Alex Russell) and Chris Alonso (Lina Esco)? They were two of the most compelling characters on "S.W.A.T.," and their respective exits — Esco departed after Season 5, while Russell appeared through Season 7 — were definitely felt by fans in the show's later seasons. The last we heard from these two, Street was planning to pop the question, and we'd appreciate the chance to get eyes on that engagement ring. You know, assuming Chris said yes, of course.

Jack Mumford may have retired after a near-death experience in Season 2 of "S.W.A.T.," but Peter Onorati made several guest appearances in future seasons of the CBS drama, and the episodes were always better for having him. Even though Hondo feels like he lost everything as a result of the Nico debacle, he still has a strong network of people in Los Angeles who are willing to assist him however they can, and a cameo (at the very least!) from Mumford on "S.W.A.T. Exiles" would serve as a helpful reminder of that, both to Hondo and to the audience.

While we're swinging for the fences here, why not bring back Stephanie Sigman as Jessica Cortez? Fans were vocally disappointed by Sigman's abrupt departure from "S.W.A.T." after Season 2, with one TVLine commenter lamenting that "the show isn't the same" without the romantic chemistry between Hondo and Cortez. Now that he's single, it could be an interesting time for her to reenter his life after all these years. We even hoped that the "Jesse" mentioned by Hondo in the "S.W.A.T. Exiles" premiere was actually Jessica, but showrunner Jason Ning told TVLine that it was purely coincidental. Sigh.