The NCIS franchise is expanding in the 2021-2022 season with the addition of NCIS: Hawaii, which will take the action across the Pacific Ocean and star a fully new set of characters. Rather than launching via backdoor pilot to introduce the characters on NCIS, like what the franchise did with NCIS: LA and the recently-canceled NCIS: New Orleans, there will be no familiar faces on Hawaii. The very good news is that the series is stacking the cast with some great actors who will be familiar faces for many TV fans, including a popular Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. star.
Enver Gjokaj, who originated his Marvel TV role as Agent Daniel Sousa on Agent Carter before joining Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a prominent role in its final season, has joined the cast of NCIS: Hawaii. Deadline reports that NCIS: Hawaii has also cast Alex Tarrant of Night Raiders fame for the series, with Tarrant as a series lead and Gjokaj in a recurring role. They join a cast led by Vanessa Lachey, and also starring Noah Mills, Jason Antoon, Yasmine Al-Bustami, and Tori Anderson. So, who will these new stars be playing?
The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. veteran's recurring character is a high-ranking Navy captain by the name of Joe Milius, who commands the Pacific Fleet. Enver Gjokaj's Joe Milius also protects the honor of an officer who died in a crash while piloting an experimental aircraft that also happens to be top-secret. While he continues to sell the story that the officer's death was an accident, Vanessa Lachey's history-making NCIS Pearl Harbor Special Agent in Charge Jane Tennant takes over the investigation. He'll respect her skills as a leader, even as their goals clash.
As for Alex Tarrant, he's on board as a series regular named Kai, who is a charming local who helps Jane Tennant's team blend into the culture of the island as they investigate their high-stakes crimes. That said, Kai hasn't been living back in Hawaii long when the series picks up, as he only recently returned to take care of his father. He has a complicated past, but also comes from years of surfing and playing the ukulele. While Kai certainly won't be the first NCIS character to arrive with a complicated past, his earlier years seem a lot more peaceful than some of those experienced by others, such as NCIS: LA's Callen.
Production on NCIS: Hawaii has already begun, as it celebrated the beginning of filming with a traditional Hawaiian blessing on the island of Oahu to honor the Hawaiian culture. It's not surprising that casting is so far along and production underway, as CBS plans to launch the Hawaii-set spinoff in the fall, where it will be paired with the original NCIS for a two-hour franchise block. It marks a time slot switch for NCIS, which had aired on Tuesdays for years but is being moved to accommodate the premiere of the next FBI spinoff and enable it to pair with its own latest spinoff.
NCIS and NCIS: Hawaii will air on Mondays starting in the fall on CBS, but there are plenty of viewing options during the wait for the next TV season to pick up, and you can find them on our 2021 summer TV premiere schedule.
