‘Tony DiNozzo’ Michael Weatherly Returns as a Full-Time NCIS Regular in a Stunning Comeback After 10 Years—Mark Harmon Joins ‘Origins’ Too ‘All-Time Cop Chemistry’

Michael Weatherly (Michael Weatherly·58), the icon and top-hit character of the legendary crime drama ‘NCIS’ that has captured viewers around the world, is finally returning—completely and fully—to his home team. Fans of pop culture worldwide are going wild over the news that he is making a full-time comeback to the parent series, not just a brief cameo appearance or a spinoff.

■ Full-time return as a regular after 10 years… The nighttime declaration that shook official social media

According to a major bombshell announcement shared through CBS’s official U.S. ‘NCIS’ Instagram account on July 1 local time, Michael Weatherly officially returns this fall, rejoining the series as a regular cast member as Tony DiNozzo for ‘NCIS’ Season 24, which premieres in early fall.

Weatherly played Tony DiNozzo, a core figure for the team, from the first season of ‘NCIS’ in 2003 through Season 13 in 2016, leading the show during its peak years. He later appeared as a surprise cameo during the Season 21 tribute episode for the late David McCallum (as Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard) in early 2024, moving fans to tears, but few predicted he would return to the team as a permanent fixture again.

In particular, because the spinoff series ‘NCIS: Tony & Ziva,’ which Weatherly and Cote de Pablo (as Ziva David) launched with ambition in December 2025, suffered the sting of a cold cancellation after just a single season, his full-time homecoming to the parent series this time has perfectly quenched fans’ thirst—an all-time, “king’s return.”

■ Even Mark Harmon as ‘Gibbs’ hits the lineup… Joins the prequel ‘NCIS: Origins’ Season 3

CBS’s major casting shakeup for this fall isn’t stopping there. ‘NCIS: Origins’ Season 3, a prequel spinoff series that covers the younger days of Leroy Jethro Gibbs, is set to bring Mark Harmon (Mark Harmon), the spiritual anchor of the parent series, back to reprise Gibbs—right on camera.

Up until now, Harmon had mainly participated in ‘NCIS: Origins’ as a narrator or producer, but as he steps in front of the camera for the third season airing this fall, CBS’s crime-drama lineup this fall is set to use an all-time, “cheat-key” level upgrade.

■ A front line in turmoil… “The real return of NCIS we’ve been waiting for”

In just one night, the franchise’s landscape flipped completely, and the fall midseason front also quickly got pulled into the thick of a fierce storm. With Tony DiNozzo’s return, how will new leadership and social dynamics play out with the existing team members? And how will the appearance of Gibbs in the prequel connect to the parent-series storyline? The script’s level of immersion is being pushed to the max.

Right after the official announcement, netizens on major platforms including Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) are pouring out intense cheers, saying, “Without DiNozzo, NCIS was like a plain bread roll without filling—but it’s finally coming back for real,” and “I can watch Gibbs and DiNozzo together in one season—my dopamine is exploding.” With the return of legendary detectives that once defined an era, the global attention of TV drama maniacs is now focused on what kind of ratings record this hot new chapter of the throne will write.