After the NCIS franchise crossed 1,000 episodes , it’s still going strong with two more series in the works. One of those include the upcoming Gibbs prequel series, NCIS: Origins , which will dig deeper into the complicated backstory of Mark Harmon ’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs, now played by Austin Stowell . This also means touching on stories that have already been established on the Mothership series, but luckily, the prequel will reportedly be avoiding breaking canon and I’m so glad.
It was previously announced that Longmire star Robert Taylor was cast as Gibbs’ father , Jackson, for NCIS : Origins . The casting raised some eyebrows, though, as it was revealed on NCIS that didn’t speak for quite some time after Shannon’s funeral. The prequel will take place not long after Gibbs loses his wife and daughter, meaning that silent treatment will still be pretty fresh.
Regardless, though, Origins co-showrunner David North told TVLine that they’re aware of it and want to stay true to the continuity: We did solve it. We’re very aware of the canon and what’s been set up, and we’re working within that. But I’ll say this: Jackson) is an important role, and we’ll see the influence of him on Gibbs.
That’s always the struggle with doing any type of spinoff, whether it’s a prequel, sequel, revival, reboot, or anything else. It’s keeping the continuity and the canon intact. Sometimes already-established storylines or characters are changed anyway, such as with Young.