'Criminal Minds' season 12 news, updates: Paget Brewster promoted to series regular, replaces Thomas Gibson?

After going through a major cast shake-up, it's all systems go for "Criminal Minds" season 12.

Shemar Moore had to leave the series before filming for season 12 officially began, and Adam Rodriguez was brought in as his replacement. Then, Aisha Tyler was promoted to series regular to beef up the cast of the show's twelfth installment.

Now, barely two weeks after Thomas Gibson, who plays Aaron Hotch, was fired from the series following an altercation with writer Virgil Williams, it's Paget Brewster's turn to be promoted to series regular. It was earlier reported that the series was looking to cast two new characters to replace Gibson, but it looks like they decided to take a different route.

In a statement made by Erica Messer, the series' executive producer, it was confirmed that Brewster will no longer be a recurring guest star but a series regular. According to Messer, everyone on board is excited to have Brewster with them as a full-time cast member. She will be reprising her role as Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) Emily Prentiss.

"We're all so excited to have Paget with us full time. The [Behavioral Analysis Unit] BAU family has definitely missed her, on screen and off. Having her back on set has been great, it's like she never left," Variety quotes Messer as saying.

As SSA, Prentiss will definitely be filling in for Hotch's vacated spot. It will be recalled that the end of season 11 saw 13 convicts escaping from prison. Among the escapees was the notorious Mr. Scratch, who once used Hotch to his advantage.

Brewster, Tyler, and Rodriguez will join Matthew Gray Gubler, Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, and Kirsten Vangsness in the upcoming season. Nevertheless, Gibson will still be seen in some episodes of "Criminal Minds" season 12.

In an interview with Parade, Vangsness, who plays Penelope Garcia, shared that the return of Brewster's character couldn't have come at a more appropriate time. The BAU needs all the help it can get, and Prentiss coming in will make it easier for the team to round up all the escaped convicts.

Meanwhile, TV Fanatic shared photos from the first episode of "Criminal Minds" season 12, which is titled "The Crimson King." One of the photos show Luke Alvez (Rodriguez) talking to Hotch, perhaps trying to figure out how they can capture the fugitives while another photo shows David Rossi (Mantegna) in a serious conversation with the team.

"Criminal Minds" season 12 premieres on Wednesday, Sept. 28, at 9 p.m. EST on CBS.