Chicago Med season 9 release updates, strike news, cast and everything we know so far

Chicago Med is on the precipice of a new era. Season 8 saw the departure of several characters, including April Sexton (Yaya DaCosta), Ethan Choi (Brian Tee), and Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss), which means that Gaffney Medical Center is more vacant than ever. There will undoubtedly be new faces brought into the mix, and part of the excitement of the upcoming season will be in getting to see how these faces mesh with the established cast members.

The release schedule for season 9 has been complicated and delayed by the actors and writers strike, but NBC has confirmed that the medical drama will be back in 2024. As such, we decided to organize all the information that we’ve gotten so far so that you are ready to go when the doors to Gaffney eventually open back up.

Chicago Med season 9  still doesn’t have a release date

NBC renewed Chicago Med for season 9 in April 2022. Originally the series was supposed to air in September 2023. However, due to delays in filming, the release date has been pushed back. While the exact revised release date remains unclear, the hope is that the show will be ready to return sometime in early 2024.

The writers room for Chicago Med has opened back up, which means that the writing team has already begun to resolve the cliffhangers of season 8 and set up the various storylines for each character. There have also been reports that the Med crew will begin preparing the soundstages for use as early as November 1, which suggests that NBC and company are confident the show will resume production in the next month or so.

While it’s unclear whether it might happen, early reports indicated NBC hopes to have the One Chicago shows back on the schedule as early as January 2024. That seems like it might be a stretch, but if there is any studio that can pull it off, it’s Wolf Entertainment.

Chicago Med was delayed by the strikes but things are turning around

The ripples caused by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have really slowed down the release of Chicago Med’s ninth season. The original plan was to start shooting season 9 in July 2023, but the strikes threw a pretty sizable wrench into the gears.

The effects of these strikes go beyond just the technical stuff — they’ve really struck a chord with the Chicago Med team. Many of the show’s stars have banded together to show support, making their voices heard across social media platforms. Leading the charge was Steven Weber, who plays Dr. Dean Archer. He passionately shared his thoughts on Instagram, reflecting on his own journey of collaborating with background artists over a whopping four decades.

"“Background artists are essential to television and film production. It is truly incomprehensible that ‘management’ is putting every human element it can find in the crosshairs in order to maximize profit,” he wrote in one of many Instagram posts about the strike."

Fortunately, the writers’ strike ended in October which allowed work to begin on the scripts for the new season and the actors’ strike ended in early November which allows the cast to not only begin promoting the shows again but also return to set to begin filming for the new season!

Chicago Med season 9 cast

While the official cast lineup for Chicago Med’s ninth season is still in the works, we do have some strong hints about the familiar faces making their return to the medical drama. Expect the return of:

• S. Epatha Merkerson as Sharon Goodwin
• Marlyne Barrett as Maggie Lockwood
• Oliver Platt as Dr. Daniel Charles
• Dominic Rains as Dr. Crockett Marcel
• Steven Weber as Dr. Dean Archer
• Jessy Schram as Dr. Hannah Asher

As we previously mentioned, however, there are going to be some notable absences when season 9 returns. Nick Gehlfuss, the face behind Dr. Will Halstead, wrapped up his journey with the series in the season 8 finale and won’t be returning anytime soon. Likewise, Guy Lockard, who portrayed Dr. Dylan Scott, left the scene in season 8 and is unlikely to make a comeback.

Brian Tee and Yaya DaCosta took their final bows in season 8, and while their characters still practice medicine in the Windy City, we aren’t holding our breath for cameos anytime soon.

Filming on Chicago Med season 9 will begin this November

Following the conclusion of the actors’ strike, networks are looking to get back to work as soon as possible with studios prioritizing their top series. It’s likely of little surprise that the One Chicago shows are among the shows NBC is looking to get back into production first and the shows are slated to be among the first shows to begin filming following the end of the actors’ strike.

Reports indicate filming on the new seasons of the One Chicago shows, including Chicago Med, will begin in mid-to-late November with the hope being to get filming started before the shows will have to break for the holidays.

Chicago Med’s ninth season might be its shortest season yet

Although the initial hope seemed to be that NBC might be able to produce as many as 15 episodes this season, it seems that plan has shifted with the goal being to film 13 episodes for Chicago Med season 9. A 13-episode season would become the shortest season of NBC’s medical drama, coming in even shorter than the show’s pandemic season which still managed to muster up 16 episodes.

It’ll be interesting to see how the shorter season plays out for the show. It honestly could be a good thing for the show as 13 episodes is more than enough to tell a tight story. We imagine the 13-episode season would lead to condensed storylines from the show as there wouldn’t be as much room for filler content.

This could actually help Med as it could give the writers the chance to tell a stronger season-long storyline that could play out in the background alongside the episode-of-the-week style medical cases.