‘NCIS: Origins’: Mark Harmon Returning Onscreen for Major Role in Season 3

Wow. NCIS: Origins may have just dropped its biggest news yet: Mark Harmon is appearing onscreen in a major way in Season 3.

CBS has announced that Harmon will appear in all 10 episodes of NCIS: Origins Season 3, “as part of a present-day mystery tied to his ‘90s Camp Pendleton days in an action-packed story that unfolds all season long.”

Harmon previously played Gibbs on NCIS before exiting as a series regular in Season 19. He narrates every episode of the prequel and executive produces it and the mothership. He has also appeared onscreen twice on Origins already, in the series premiere and in the crossover with NCIS in November 2025, from where he now resides in Alaska. We can’t help but wonder if this major role for Season 3 could mean we could see someone joining him in that cabin…

When TV Insider spoke with executive producer David J. North about the Season 2 finale, we, of course, had to ask about seeing Harmon onscreen again.

 

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“We know what the fans want. He so much represents what NCIS is, and I would love to see him again, but definitely we’ll see what happens,” he told us in May.

When we spoke with Harmon about his onscreen appearance in the crossover and asked about him showing up again, he said, “I don’t know. Gina [Lucita Monreal] and David had an idea. I obviously like them, I admire ’em, worked with ’em for a very long time. They’re very good. They had an idea, and I liked the idea. I try really hard to think about what’s best for the show or what possibly can work for this show. But part of that also is giving them the ability to write what they feel is right for the reasons they feel it’s right. I try hard not to bother them, not to make their job harder than it is, and it’s plenty hard just developing this new show. And I’m reminded by that because it’s exactly what the mothership was when it first debuted. And this is on a similar path, which is not a bad idea if it works. So we’ll see.”

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NCIS: Origins tells the story of the young Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ (Austin Stowell) early days with NIS, now NCIS as of the finale, in the early ’90s. It also stars Kyle Schmid, Mariel Molino, Tyla Abercrumbie, Diany Rodriguez, and Caleb Foote.

Serving as executive producers on Season 3, along with North and Mark Harmon, are Sean Harmon, Michele Greco, and Eric Christian Olsen (who starred as Deeks on NCIS: LA).

NCIS: Origins, Season 3, Fall 2026, Tuesdays, 10/9c, CBS