NCIS EP not opposed to crossover with NCIS: Origins

NCIS fans are used to crossovers, but can there be one with the prequel series NCIS: Origins? The producers aren’t ruling it out!

NCIS fans are used to crossovers ever since NCIS: Los Angeles premiered to build up the franchise. There have been multiple show crossovers with NCIS: New Orleans and later NCIS: Hawaii with a 2023 crossover bringing the later three shows together.

While NCIS: Hawaii has sadly been canceled, there is still some crossover potential between NCIS and NCIS: Sydney. It also sounds like the producers are open to a possible crossover with the upcoming Tony/Ziva series. However, there’s another NCIS show that may not be as obvious for crossover potential.

NCIS: Origins is already nicknamed “Young Gibbs” because of its focus on the younger version of Mark Harmon’s iconic character. Harmon himself will narrate as the show is set in the early 1990s with Gibbs (Austin Stowell) becoming a top NCIS agent and shows how he builds into the man fans would later come to love. 

Given it’s set over 30 years ago, the crossover potential with the current NCIS shows would appear to be non-existent. But when talking to TV Line on NCIS, executive producer Steven D. Binder hinted it’s possible something could happen:

"So, I’m absolutely open to any ideas anybody has. They are totally welcome to show them to me and see what we can come up with."

- Binder

That sounds like a crossover could happen, but just how would it come about?

What a potential NCIS/NCIS: Origins crossover could look like

The obvious stumbling block of any crossover with NCIS: Origins is the show being set in 1993, so it can’t be a straight continuation. NCIS has done some wild plots but time travel is a bridge too far, so it can’t be McGee, Parker, or the rest back in the past. 

One potential plot could be Gibbs and his team investigating a case in the past that leads to a bigger threat in the present. It could be a dead criminal or terrorist’s son seeking revenge, some spy drama rearing its head again, or a dead body popping up after years hidden.

So you could have a case starting on Origins flowing into the modern NCIS. Thus, the team could go over files and flashbacks showing how the case unfolded while giving them more insight into the kind of guy Gibbs was.

It would be intriguing, especially if they can get Harmon to do more than some voiceover as Gibbs. Still, any way to link the NCIS shows together is good, as NCIS: Origins is part of the franchise so the crossover potential can exist, even if it is trickier to pull off.

NCIS seasons 1-21 streaming on Paramount+.