NCIS: Origins season 1 is set in 1991 and tells the tale of young Leroy Gibbs as he gets hired at the NIS Camp Pendleton office. The enjoyable series, which premiered in October 2024, tells fans everything they ever wanted to know about the beloved character. It’s always fun to get the chance to dive deep into a character’s backstory, especially when they’re as smart and sometimes mysterious as Gibbs.
Mark Harmon left NCIS in season 19 after portraying the special agent since 2003, and even though NCIS season 22 is airing now and there are countless stories to tell involving the remaining characters, Harmon is missed. Considering how important Gibbs is, it’s no wonder that a prequel series was created. But is Harmon involved with NCIS: Origins, or did he leave the entire franchise?
Is Mark Harmon On The NCIS Prequel NCIS: Origins?
Mark Harmon is the narrator on NCIS: Origins, which works great since it’s nice to have this bridge between the original series and the highly anticipated prequel.
Harmon also played Gibbs again in NCIS: Origins season 1, episode 1, “Enter Sandman.” Viewers see him writing in a journal by the fire and sharing the experiences he has had. This works perfectly since it ties into Gibbs’s last NCIS episode which was season 19, episode 4, “The Great Wide Open.”
In a 2024 interview with Deadline, NCIS: Origins showrunners David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal talked about Harmon’s appearance and how it connects to what came before. Monreal said:
“Well, we knew that he brought a journal to Alaska.”
North explained that when Gibbs decides to stay in Alaska, it makes sense that he would have his diary. North said:
“we didn’t really know what Gibbs would take with him when he knew he was never coming back. One of the things was a journal because he’s going to be in solitude. That worked out very well for us here at Origins.”
Although of course, NCIS fans love Harmon’s portrayal of the special agent, it would have been impossible for Harmon to play a young Gibbs without de-aging, and that might not have been the best route for the prequel series. Austin Stowell does an impressive job taking on a beloved character who fans already know so much about. Although there are some NCIS characters like Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette), who viewers haven’t seen since they left, it’s great that Gibbs lives on.
While fans are used to watching the older Gibbs solve cases and help his teammates get through the ups and downs of life on almost 19 whole seasons of NCIS, like the main characters on shows like The Rookie, NCIS: Origins shares more concrete details of young Gibbs. The original show has some flashbacks, but the prequel gets to the heart of his background.
NCIS: Origins season 1 will have 18 episodes, and in February 2025, TV Line reported that CBS renewed the prequel series for season 2. At the time of this writing, it’s unknown if Harmon will narrate the second season or if he will appear again.
What Did Mark Harmon Say About NCIS: Origins?
Mark Harmon has talked quite a bit about leaving the law enforcement drama NCIS, and since he has been heavily involved with NCIS: Origins, he has also talked about the experience of working on the prequel. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in November 2024, he called it “a period piece” and said it has been fascinating to “be learning about the agency in a different way than I had in the past.” Harmon also mentioned:
“looking at it in a different way, too, as an executive producer.”
Since leaving NCIS, Harmon wrote two books called Ghosts of Honolulu and Ghosts of Panama. Fans can watch Harmon reprise his role of Tess Coleman’s (Jamie Lee Curtis) husband Ryan in the upcoming Disney sequel Freakier Friday.