Wild Cards Season 3 Sets Premiere Date on The CW

Ellis and Max will be back on the case when Wild Cards returns to The CW in the new year.

As part of its midseason premiere dates, the network announced that the consultant procedural will return on Monday, January 26, 2026.

There are certainly many cliffhangers for the 10-episode third season to address. Wild Cards Season 2 Episode 13, “Sunrise, Sunset,” has many twists and turns.

Most notably, Ellis uncovers that Commissioner Russo is behind the cover-up of his brother Daniel’s murder. Ellis’s actions to get to the truth leave his job in the balance, inspiring Ellis to finally take Daniel’s boat out on the water.

Ellis invites Max to set sail with him, but Max’s intentions to join her partner are interrupted by a surprise at her door — Max’s mother, Vivienne, who is supposedly dead. 

Vanessa Morgan and Giacomo Gianniotti will reprise their roles as Max Mitchell and Cole Ellis, respectively, when Wild Cards returns in January. The CW has shared that Bones‘s Tamara Taylor will be portraying Vivienne. 

The show’s second season also starred Terry Chen as Chief Li, Jason Priestley as George, Michael Xavier as Detective Simmons, Amy Goodmurphy as Detective Yates, Fletcher Donovan as Ricky, and Jonesy as Marc.

Wild Cards‘s Season 3 description reads as follows:

Season 3 picks up one month after last season’s finale, with Max now working as an official police consultant. Her world is immediately upended by two arrivals: First, Ellis returns to the force, cleared of all charges and ready to be her partner again. Second, the woman at Max’s door is revealed to be her long-lost mother, Vivienne  – who Max believed was dead. Vivienne’s shocking return ignites the dangerous, high-stakes events of Season 3 and further upends Max’s already complicated relationship with Ellis.

Executive producer Michael Konyves created the series that comes from Blink49 Studios, Front Street Pictures, and Piller/Segan in association with The CW for commissioning broadcaster CBC in Canada. FIFTH SEASON handles international distribution.

Executive producers also include Wild Cards Season 1 Episode 1, “The Infinity Thief,” director James Genn, Shawn Piller, Lloyd Segan, and writers Alexandra Zarowny, James Thorpe, Noelle Carbone, and Morwyn Brebner. Charles Cooper and Virginia Rankin produce.

THE CW 2026 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE 

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21

8:00 POLICE 24/7

9:00 POLICE 24/7  (encore episode)

THURSDAY, JANUARY 22

8:00 SCRABBLE (Season 2 premiere)

9:00 TRIVIAL PURSUIT (Season 2 premiere)

MONDAY, JANUARY 26

8:00 WILD CARDS (Season 3 premiere)

9:00 SULLIVAN’S CROSSING (encore episode)

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Wild Cards Season 3 premieres on Monday, January 26, at 8/7c on The CW.

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