Mark Harmon is stepping back into the role of Leroy Gibbs on-camera this fall, returning full-time for the third season of NCIS: Origins on CBS as the series expands a mystery from the past into every episode.
The wait for NCIS fans is officially ending—at least for the one face many still associate with Leroy Gibbs. Mark Harmon is returning as Gibbs in NCIS: Origins this fall, and this time it isn’t just narration or a quick cameo. He’s coming back full-time for the show’s third season on CBS.
Harmon has spent a while connected to the franchise through voice-over work. Since he left the long-running procedural NCIS in 2021, he’s reprised his role on-camera only a handful of times. Now, for Origins’ third season, he’s stepping back in front of the camera as the franchise’s signature presence.
The third season is set to premiere on CBS this fall with a story built around a mystery that stretches across two time periods. One thread takes place in the 1990s, when Gibbs is a rookie special agent at Camp Pendleton. That era is where Origins primarily lives, with a younger Gibbs played by Austin Stowell.
But the case doesn’t stay in the past. The mystery centers on the small-town death of a naval officer, and it reverberates into the present, where aged Gibbs (Harmon) digs even deeper into his earlier casework.
The groundwork for this season-long pull was planted during a season 2 crossover between Origins and NCIS for Veterans Day. What started as a crossover event is now set to expand dramatically—this time, the story will “explode,” extending into every episode of the third season.
For fans who have followed Gibbs from one chapter to the next. the shift is clear: Origins isn’t just revisiting old ground. It’s making one past case the engine for an entire season—while bringing Harmon fully back to the screen as Gibbs comes closer. episode by episode. to what he couldn’t leave behind.
Mark Harmon Leroy Gibbs NCIS: Origins NCIS CBS Austin Stowell Camp Pendleton season 3 Veterans Day crossover