Wild Cards is a Canadian police procedural television series co-produced by the Canadian CBC Television network and American network The CW. It premiered on January 10, 2024, in Canada, followed by its U.S. premiere on January 17, 2024.
In May 2024, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on January 8, 2025, in Canada, and on February 5, 2025, in the U.S. In May 2025, the series was renewed through its fourth season.
Contents
Premise
Cole Ellis, a detective demoted to water-cop duty, is called to transport Max Mitchell, a seasoned con woman. While awaiting booking at the station, she cracks a major case for him involving the mayor's friends. The pair are offered an opportunity at redemption – Ellis a chance to get back his detective post, and Max a chance to stay out of jail – but they just have to work together.
Cast and characters
Main
Vanessa Morgan as Max Mitchell
Giacomo Gianniotti as Cole Ellis
Recurring
Terry Chen as Chief Patrick Li
Michael Xavier as Detective Simmons (seasons 1–3)
Amy Goodmurphy as Detective Yates
Fletcher Donovan as Ricky Wilson
Jason Priestley as George Graham, Max's father, who Max is trying to get out of prison
Giacomo Baessato as Officer Jim
Jonesy as Marc, Cole's Devon Rex companion
Karin Konoval as Commissioner Russo (season 2; guest season 1)
Caroline Battista as Officer Toni (season 2; guest season 1)
Manuela Sosa as Coroner Olive (season 2)
Martin Sheen as Joseph Edwards (season 2), a con man who has ties to Max and George
Tamara Taylor as Vivienne Mitchell (season 3), Max's mother, who was presumed dead
Kaylah Zander as Jessica (season 3), Ellis' girlfriend
Guest
Tony D'Angelo as Jaws (season 2)
Ricky Saints as Atlas (season 3)
Justin Allgaier as himself (season 3)
Episodes
Production
Development
In early June 2023, CBC announced its new dramas for the 2023–24 season would include a new show titled Wild Cards from showrunner Michael Konyves. Shawn Piller would serve as executive producer, with Noelle Carbone as head writer/executive producer, and James Genn as pilot director/executive producer. Later that same month it was confirmed that production and filming had begun. The series is produced by Blink49 Studios, Front Street Pictures and Piller/Segan in association with CBC Television in Canada; in October 2023, it was announced that The CW in the U.S. would also produce the series.
Casting
In early October 2023, the first casting announcements were made for the two main roles with Giacomo Gianniotti to play the cop and Vanessa Morgan to play the con woman. In December 2023, it was announced that Jason Priestley had joined the cast.
Filming
Filming took place in Vancouver, British Columbia between July 24, 2023 and October 27, 2023, followed by a single day of filming in Toronto, Ontario. Filming for the third season started in Vancouver on August 28, 2025, as confirmed by the latest post of Giacomo's Instagram account.
Release
Wild Cards was ordered to series by both Canadian broadcaster CBC and U.S. network The CW. The 10 episode first season premiered on January 10, 2024 on CBC Television in Canada and its associated digital streaming platform CBC Gem, as well as on-demand and both platforms' respective websites in Canada, and on January 17, 2024 on The CW, and the following day its app, on-demand and its website in the United States.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 100% from 11 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The first season has an approval rating of 100% based on 6 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The second season has an approval rating of 100% based on 5 critic reviews with an average rating of 8/10.
The first season was CBC's highest-rated new series in terms of audience in 2024. The second season was the third most viewed program on CBC in 2025 with an average of 459,000 viewers.
The first season averaged 892,000 viewers and a 0.1 demo rating on the CW with Live+7 viewership, trailing only Walker and ranking third in demo ratings. The third season premiere was the most-watched episode of the series on the CW with 710,000 same day viewers.