As CBS closing in on its May Upfronts, final decisions need to be made about the 2025–2026 TV season. This includes the future of The Equalizer universe. Well, one decision has been made just off the back of The Equalizer spin-off’s backdoor pilot.
The backdoor pilot aired on Sunday, April 20, with us being introduced to Stephanie, who turned to McCall for help when her ex-CIA father had been taken. Naturally, McCall and her team ran into action to save Elliot Reed, and it set up a potential storyline for a spin-off series. Well, we’ll never get to know how it goes.
CBS has decided against expanding The Equalizer universe
For some time, it looked like CBS was looking to great more franchises. Both The Equalizer and The Neighborhood got spin-off ideas. However, neither of the ideas are going to happen. At least fans got to see The Equalizer spin-off’s backdoor pilot before the decision was made.
In a way, the decision isn’t that surprising. The spin-off idea had been quietly talked about, with just the odd update about casting here and there. However, the backdoor pilot didn’t get a promotional push leading up to it, and there wasn’t a lot of chatter about it on the night that it aired.
What does this mean for The Equalizer?
CBS has made a decision on almost everything on the network now for the 2025–2026 TV season. The only show left with its fate on the line is The Equalizer. According to Deadline, negotiations between CBS and Universal TV are still happening, and there’s a 50/50 chance that we’ll see another season of the Queen Latifah series.
If the show is renewed, it will be for a 13-episode final season. However, we could see that the fifth season finale becomes the series finale, especially with the decision not to continue growing the franchise.
The Equalizer airs on Sundays at 10/9c on CBS.
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