Mark Harmon will reprise Gibbs on NCIS: Origins season 3, with new episodes premiering October 6 on CBS.
Mark spoke about the real reason he returned to the NCIS franchise.
Mark previously played Gibbs on NCIS from season 1 to 19, leaving in late 2021.
We’re just weeks away from Mark Harmon’s return to the NCIS franchise—and he just revealed what convinced him to come back.
In November 2025, fans saw the actor reprise his role as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in a special crossover between NCIS and the prequel series NCIS: Origins, which follows Gibbs, played by Austin Stowell, during his days at Camp Pendleton in the 1990s. Fans loved seeing him back in the NCIS universe, and they couldn’t believe it when news broke that Mark would return on camera for a special arc in season 3 of NCIS: Origins.
Ahead of the October 6 premiere, Mark spoke to TV Insider about returning to the franchise as present-day Gibbs. He admitted to the outlet that his voiceover during that crossover episode led showrunner David J. North to create a storyline that felt authentic to his portrayal from years past.
“This came off that in a way, because [he] came up with an idea for the character in 1990,” he said in the interview published on September 15. “It had to be an idea that I liked.”
Mark was previously a part of NCIS from seasons 1 to 19, when he exited in late 2021. Since then, he’s gone on to executive produce NCIS: Origins, where he narrates each episode.
The premiere of NCIS: Origins season 3 will call back to some key details from the sneak peek trailer that dropped on September 8. Mainly, fans will learn why Gibbs stepped away from his retirement in Alaska.
“For [Gibbs] to leave, something really big must’ve happened,” David teased in the same interview. “We’re seeing Gibbs in a way we’ve never seen him before.” He also promised “people popping up from his past in ways that are going to have fans going nuts.”
Consider us intrigued!
