After building a TV empire with Law & Order and its numerous spinoffs, Dick Wolf is constructing a similar TV landscape with his NBC shows Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., the new series Chicago Med and another upcoming spinoff, Chicago Justice. Deadline reports that the executive producer announced at PaleyFest today that Carl Weathers has signed on to star in Chicago Justice. The actor joins Philip Winchester, Nazneen Contractor and Joelle Carter in the series.

The spinoff will first be introduced in the 21st episode of Chicago P.D. Season 3, entitled Justice, which doesn't have an exact air date. Carl Weathers is playing State's Attorney Mark Jefferies, described as "a respected, grounded intellectual with admirable gravitas." No details have been given for Philip Winchester, Nazneen Contractor and Joelle Carter's characters quite yet.

The Chicago P.D. episode, which will serve as a backdoor pilot for Chicago Justice, will be directed by Jean de Segonzac, who has a long history with executive producer Dick Wolf. He directed the pilot episodes for Law & Order spinoffs Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, while also directing multiple episodes of the original Law & Order and Chicago Fire.

No story details have been released for Chicago Justice, but it will most certainly connect to Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and the new series Chicago Med. Dick Wolf is executive producing, although it isn't known if he created the series. Chicago Fire was created by Derek Haas and Michael Brandt, who developed Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med with Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead.

Carl Weathers is best known for his iconic role of Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise. He currently stars as Beau on the hit USA Network series Colony and voiced Jax in Mortal Kombat X. It isn't known what NBC's plans are for Chicago Justice after the backdoor pilot, so stay tuned for more details on this spinoff.