‘The Equalizer’ Spinoff With 2 Co-Leads Eyed By CBS

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: The Equalizer is the latest hit CBS series to explore a spinoff. The Queen Latifah crime drama will introduce two new characters in Episode 516 this season that could anchor their own series, sources tell Deadline.

Casting is underway for the roles: a skilled younger female martial artist, weapons expert and criminologist with a secret origin story who turns to McCall (Queen Latifah) for help, and an older male former top CIA operative. (It is unclear whether he and McCall know each other from their time at the agency.) Both are guest-star roles with series regular options aimed at the potential spinoff.

If the offshoot goes forward, its two-hander format would be a departure from the original 1985 Equalizer series, the current CBS reboot as well as the movie franchise, all of which had a single lead, male (first series and movies) and female (the Queen Latifah version).

Episode 516 of The Equalizer, which will air in the spring, is not designated as a backdoor pilot. CBS has been taking a more informal approach with its planted spinoff efforts, introducing potential lead offshoot characters in storylines integrated into regular episodes of the mothership series.