Suits season 8

The eighth season of the American legal drama Suits was ordered on January 30, 2018, and began airing on USA Network in the United States July 18, 2018.

The season saw extensive cast changes with the departures of Patrick J. Adams (Mike Ross), Meghan Markle (Rachel Zane), and Gina Torres (Jessica Pearson) at the conclusion of the previous season. Previously recurring guest stars Amanda Schull (Katrina Bennett) and Dulé Hill (Alex Williams) were promoted to series regulars, while Katherine Heigl joined the main cast as senior partner Samantha Wheeler.

The second half of the season premiered on January 23, 2019.

Regular cast

 * Gabriel Macht as Harvey Specter
 * Rick Hoffman as Louis Litt
 * Sarah Rafferty as Donna Paulsen
 * Amanda Schull as Katrina Bennett
 * Dulé Hill as Alex Williams
 * Katherine Heigl as Samantha Wheeler

Special Guest Cast

 * David Costabile as Daniel Hardman

Recurring cast

 * Wendell Pierce as Robert Zane
 * Rachael Harris as Sheila Sazs
 * Aloma Wright as Gretchen Bodinski
 * Ray Proscia as Dr. Stan Lipschitz
 * Jake Epstein as Brian Altman

Guest cast

 * Abigail Spencer as Dana Scott
 * Gary Cole as Cameron Dennis
 * Jeffrey Nordling as Eric Kaldor
 * Usman Ally as Andrew Malik
 * Neal McDonough as Sean Cahill
 * Sasha Roiz as Thomas Kessler
 * Ian Reed Kesler as Stu Buzzini

Development
On May 25, 2018, Entertainment Weekly released an interview with Katherine Heigl in which she described her character Samantha Wheeler as a "fierce and enigmatic lawyer who muscles her way into [the] central law firm, Zane Specter Litt." She also teased an antagonistic relationship between Samantha and the main protagonist Harvey Specter and an "uneasy dynamic" with Donna. The article included several exclusive first-look images from the season premiere and Heigl's character.

Series creator Aaron Korsh confirmed that Patrick J. Adams will not be returning for any guest appearances in the first ten episodes of the season. However, he did state that he and Adams had discussed it and are both open to the possibility somewhere in the future. At the same time, he confirmed that Gina Torres will not guest star on the eighth season nor will there be crossover episodes in order to establish the world from the Chicago-based spin-off series Pearson as separate from Suits itself.