The new showrunners on ABC's Castle are preparing for the worst as far as continuing the series without its major characters.

'Castle' Return Date Changes Again, No Longer Premiering On February 1

There is a scenario where Castle continues without its leads, Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic. The stars, who play Castle and Beckett, respectively, are on one-year deals and have yet to renew their contract for a possible season 9. While there is no outward indication that either would want to leave the series, ABC has apparently had discussions about the show's future even if neither Fillion nor Katic are on board.

However, co-showrunner Alexi Hawley told TVGuide.com recently that he would still want to continue with the same cast of characters, obviously.

Which Cast Members Will Sing In The 'Castle' Midseason Premiere?

"If we had our choice, it would be the same cast, it would be the same show," Hawley said. "We've done some fun stuff this year so that it has a little different energy that could absolutely carry through to a Season 9. But both of us are very invested in this, and we understand that Castle has always been about Beckett and Castle. So the idea of that not happening is daunting, and we're rooting against that."

Hawley and co-showrunner Terence Paul Winter are also preparing to wrap up several storylines by the end of season 8.

"LokSat is definitely getting resolved at the end of this year," Hawley promised. "Our hope was to take all the threads -- the conspiracies, Sen. Bracken, Castle's missing time-- and really tie them off in a compelling, satisfying way, so that in Season 9 we can tell really compelling standalone stories and leave the conspiracy part of it behind. I think ultimately those stories are about played-out."

Castle returns for the second half of season 8 on Monday, Feb. 8 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

Tags: Castle television ABC