After eight years, the actor who originally played Mike Franks is returning to NCIS! CBS was a bit slow to announce its 2025-2026 TV lineup, but now that all the major shows are confirmed, the network is taking some creative risks. One example is a crossover event within the NCIS universe – for the first time in years, the original NCIS series will connect with the new show, NCIS: Origins.
The NCIS shows have moved to Tuesdays, replacing CBS’s Monday night lineup after many years. This new schedule makes it simpler to coordinate the upcoming crossover event, even though NCIS and NCIS: Origins take place in different eras. The special two-hour episode will feature Mark Harmon and Roma Maffia reprising their roles as older versions of Gibbs and Vera, but they weren’t the only familiar faces to appear.
A recently released photo from the NCIS: Origins portion of the upcoming crossover confirms that Muse Watson filmed a scene showing an older version of his character, Franks. The scene begins with actor Kyle Schmid portraying a younger Franks, and through special effects, he transforms into Watson as the character ages. You can see the photo, along with other behind-the-scenes pictures from the crossover, below.
The recent NCIS crossover event for 2025 was generally well-received, especially due to the many references to past seasons, including Mark Harmon’s return as Gibbs. However, a missed opportunity was the failure to bring together Sean Murray’s McGee (Tim) and Harmon’s Gibbs. Since Murray was already on set filming a scene for NCIS: Origins, it would have been easy to create another brief, imagined scene between the characters, a moment fans would have loved.
Following the death of Franks in season 8 of NCIS, the show has continued to feature him through imagined conversations with Gibbs. These scenes served as a way for Gibbs, then the leader of the NCIS team, to work through difficult decisions, with Franks acting as a trusted confidant. This history makes it even more compelling to see Austin Stowell and Schmid portray these characters in NCIS: Origins.
It’s unclear if we’ll ever see Watson and Harmon working together on screen again. But seeing both actors portray Franks highlights how perfectly Schmid was cast as the younger version of the character, known for smoking cigarettes. Hopefully, CBS will find ways to bring back more familiar faces from the show’s history to NCIS.
NCIS airs new episodes every Tuesday, 8 PM ET on CBS.
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2025-11-12 21:12