The S.W.A.T. franchise is returning home. After the original series’ cancellation, the spin-off S.W.A.T. Exiles revives the world with Shemar Moore reprising his role as “Hondo,” now leading younger recruits in a new era.
Streets & Strategy
Exiles plans to film in Los Angeles in summer 2025, using much of the same crew as the original series. The tension in the spin-off is generational: Hondo is back, but he leads a team split between experience and urgency, tradition and innovation.
In its cast mix: a former Marine, an undercover cop with a checkered past, an amputee detective refusing desk duty, and more. It’s diversity, ambition, and moral stakes all rolled into one team.
Significance for L.A.
For years, S.W.A.T. tapped into the duty/identity nexus in an L.A. often depicted through lights and sirens. Exiles leans in, adding internal conflict among responders themselves. Because it films locally, it can incorporate real precincts, locals, and city structure into narrative stakes.
With realism as much as action expected, Exiles may become more than a procedural: a mirror for how policing, generational change, and urban identity cross in a changing Los Angeles.
