Three familiar faces are about to become part of Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ search for the truth. With Mark Harmon returning to the present-day storyline of NCIS: Origins, the prequel is bringing back characters whose connections to Gibbs stretch across different periods of the franchise. Their appearances will also help address one of Season 3’s central questions: what really happened to Lala Dominguez?
Muse Watson, Roma Maffia and Joe Spano will reprise Mike Franks, Vera Strickland and Tobias Fornell in three consecutive episodes. According to Deadline’s November 10 exclusive, all three will share scenes with Harmon’s Gibbs in the modern-day timeline. Each reunion will contribute a different piece of information to an investigation rooted in events from decades earlier.
Mark Harmon will reunite with three familiar faces across November and December
The returning actors will not appear together in a single special episode. Instead, CBS has scheduled their appearances across Episodes 306, 307 and 308, giving each character a separate role in Gibbs’ investigation.
Here is the confirmed US broadcast schedule for the three NCIS: Origins Season 3 guest appearances:
- Muse Watson as Mike Franks: Episode 306, airing November 17, 2026. Franks’ return provides new information about what happened to Lala Dominguez.
- Roma Maffia as Vera Strickland: Episode 307, airing December 1, 2026. Vera assists Gibbs in his search for answers, which leads him back to a familiar person from his past.
- Joe Spano as Tobias Fornell: Episode 308, airing December 8, 2026. Fornell joins Gibbs as the investigation takes a dangerous new direction.
These dates refer specifically to the US broadcasts. No international release schedule has been confirmed in the information announced so far.
The order of these appearances is particularly relevant. Franks brings information about Lala, Vera helps move the investigation forward, and Fornell becomes involved when Gibbs pursues another lead. As a result, the returning characters are connected by an ongoing mystery rather than nostalgia alone.
Mark Harmon connects the present-day mystery with the prequel’s younger Gibbs
Season 3 introduces an unusual narrative arrangement for NCIS: Origins. Mark Harmon plays the older Gibbs in a present-day storyline, while Austin Stowell continues portraying the younger version during the 1990s at Camp Pendleton. Both timelines run concurrently, allowing the series to examine the same history from different points in Gibbs’ life.
At the center of that connection is Lala Dominguez, played by Mariel Molino. Her disappearance remains tied to the experiences that shaped young Gibbs and the Origins team. Meanwhile, the older Gibbs is searching for answers about those events years later.
This creates an important distinction between the two versions of the character. Stowell’s Gibbs is living through the circumstances surrounding Lala, whereas Harmon’s Gibbs is trying to understand their consequences with the benefit of decades of experience.
Franks, Vera and Fornell are especially relevant because each has a different relationship with Gibbs. Their appearances offer an opportunity to connect the people he knew with the unresolved questions he continues to investigate.
However, the precise answers they will uncover have not been revealed. The confirmed episode descriptions establish their involvement without disclosing the full explanation behind Lala’s disappearance.
The returning characters bring decades of NCIS history into Origins
For Muse Watson and Roma Maffia, these appearances mark another return to characters already associated with the original NCIS. Both actors reprised their roles during a special NCIS: Origins and NCIS crossover in 2025. However, neither shared scenes with Gibbs during that event.
Watson’s Mike Franks was an important figure in Gibbs’ history. Although Franks died during Season 8 of NCIS, he subsequently appeared to Gibbs as a ghost in the original series. The production has not explained how Franks will appear in the new present-day storyline, so that detail remains unknown.
His upcoming scenes with Harmon will be their first together since NCIS Season 15, Episode 8. That makes the reunion notable beyond Franks’ role in the Lala investigation.
Roma Maffia’s Vera Strickland has a different connection to the franchise. Vera was Franks’ former partner on NCIS, and Maffia last shared scenes with Harmon’s Gibbs in Season 11, Episode 3. Her Season 3 appearance will therefore reconnect characters who have not appeared together on screen for years.
Mark Harmon and Joe Spano share the screen again for the first time since 2021
Joe Spano’s return carries another distinction. Although Tobias Fornell has been part of NCIS since its 2003 premiere, this will be Spano’s first appearance in NCIS: Origins. His previous on-screen appearance alongside Harmon was in Season 18, Episode 5, which aired in 2021.
Fornell began as an FBI Special Agent whose relationship with Gibbs was marked by professional rivalry. Over time, however, they developed a close friendship and became something resembling chosen family. That history gives their renewed partnership a personal dimension as Gibbs follows a dangerous lead.
The character is not entirely new to the prequel. Lucas Dixon previously portrayed a younger Tobias Fornell in Origins Season 1, Episode 6. Spano’s appearance now connects that earlier portrayal with the older character audiences know from the original series.
Season 3 is expanding its connections to the original NCIS
These three reunions are part of a wider collection of returning characters. Season 3 has already brought additional familiar faces into its story, creating several connections between the prequel and the established NCIS timeline.
Here are the key confirmed details of the season:
- Series: NCIS: Origins, the CBS prequel produced by CBS Studios.
- Season: Season 3, featuring concurrent present-day and 1990s storylines.
- Present-day Gibbs: Mark Harmon returns as Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
- Young Gibbs: Austin Stowell continues leading the prequel’s 1990s storyline.
- Central mystery: The disappearance of Lala Dominguez, played by Mariel Molino, and its connection to the Origins team’s past.
- Michael Weatherly: Returns as Tony DiNozzo, now a director, in Episode 3.
- Emily Wickersham: Returns as Eleanor “Ellie” Bishop, debuting in the October 27 episode, with further appearances planned.
- Newly confirmed guest stars: Muse Watson, Roma Maffia and Joe Spano in Episodes 306, 307 and 308, respectively.
- Executive producers: David J. North, Mark Harmon, Sean Harmon, Michele Greco and Eric Christian Olsen.
Weatherly’s appearance and Wickersham’s continuing involvement underline how Season 3 is using established characters alongside its younger cast. Nevertheless, the three newly announced reunions have a particularly direct connection to the investigation involving Lala.
Other series are also bringing back familiar characters
Beyond NCIS, familiar television characters are also returning in other projects. Another example is the upcoming Clueless series bringing back Travis with Breckin Meyer, which similarly reconnects a new production with an established character.
There are also broader developments surrounding the television business. For example, HBO Max and Paramount+ will launch a joint subscription bundle in early 2027, a separate business move that is not tied to this season.
For now, the immediate focus remains the three upcoming CBS episodes. Mark Harmon will reunite with characters who represent different chapters of Gibbs’ history, while the prequel continues exploring events from his younger years. Whether Franks, Vera and Fornell can help him uncover the full truth about Lala remains the question connecting these returns.
Creator of the website, Pokemon trainer by nature. Trying to report on everything related to the world of video games, series and movies. Yu-Gi-Oh is my weakness, collecting cards since the dawn of time.
