'Bones' Showrunners Confident in Season 9 With David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel

Brian Bowen Smith/FOX

There is still a lot of life left to Bones, according to Hart Hanson.

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The creator of Fox's longest-running scripted series, joined by E.P. Stephen Nathan, spoke with reporters on Wednesday morning and one of the first things the duo addressed was the likelihood of a ninth season and star David Boreanaz's recent tweets hinting that his time on the series was coming to an end.

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"David is a mischievous guy," said Hanson. "He loves lobbing hand grenades out. I think he really gets a kick out of all the stuff I try to avoid, which is people hollering on Twitter. I don't think there's any serious angst or bile around it."

Nathan was quick to add that the mischief is not a negative reflection on the actor's affection for his job.

"He loves his show, and he's better than ever," said Nathan. "And I think he wants him to come back as much as we want him to come back. It doesn't seem to be an issue."

The showrunners are not privy to Boreanaz and co-star Emily Deschanel's current negotiations with the 20th Century Fox television, but Hanson did note that they were currently in talks for at least one more season.

"They are currently in negotiations through at least season nine," said Hanson. "We're pretty confident that they'll come to an agreement."

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Bones supporting players -- Michaela Conlin (Angela Montenegro), T.J. Thyne (Dr. Hodgins), Tamara Taylor (Dr. Saroyan) and John Francis Daley (Dr. Sweets) -- all closed deals last year that brought them big salary bumps for the upcoming eighth run.

As for the arc of the show, which saw Deschanel's character go on the lamb after being framed for murder, Hanson and Nathan said current foil Christopher Pelant (Andrew Leeds) is sticking around.

"Hart and I hate serial killers as a rule but we both love this guy," said Nathan. "He's going to color season eight a little, and he's going to color it red."

Watch more from Nathan and Boreanaz on Pelant and the upcoming eighth season in The Hollywood Reporter's Comic-Con interview with the two below: