2025 has been a landmark year for NCIS fans, filled with big firsts for the two-decade-old franchise. The year kicked off with NCIS: Tony and Ziva, the first streaming spinoff starring Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo, marking their long-awaited on-screen reunion since 2013. The series quickly became a hit, leaving fans eager for a second season.
CBS also made history this fall with its first-ever three-hour NCIS block, featuring NCIS, NCIS: Origins, and NCIS: Sydney on Tuesday nights. Now, the network is gearing up for another milestone – the first crossover between NCIS and NCIS: Origins, uniting two shows set in different timelines.
The November 11 Veterans Day event will also feature the highly anticipated return of NCIS legend Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Harmon, who narrates NCIS: Origins and last appeared on-screen in the 2024 premiere, will reprise his iconic role in the opening hour of the crossover, set within Origins. It’s his first on-screen appearance in the NCIS universe since his 2021 exit in Season 19.
The crossover will also bring back Roma Maffia as Special Agent Vera Strickland, alongside Diany Rodriguez, who plays her younger counterpart in Origins.
CBS released the official synopsis, teasing how the two timelines will connect. In NCIS: Origins (airing at 8/7c), Gibbs (Austin Stowell) and his 1990s team investigate the mysterious death of a naval officer in Serenity, California – a case that echoes into the future. The story continues in NCIS (airing at 9/8c), when a modern-day prison break leads the team to reopen that same decades-old case and enlist help from retired agent Strickland.
Though it’s unclear whether Harmon’s Gibbs will share the screen with the current NCIS team, his return alone is a major event for longtime fans. With creative storytelling bridging past and present, this crossover promises to be one of the most memorable moments in NCIS history.
