NCIS: Origins is slated as the first prequel in the NCIS franchise, as the clock is being wound back to follow Leroy Jethro Gibbs joining the title law enforcement agency in 1991, shortly after the death of his first wife and daughter. But Gibbs, previously played by Mark Harmon on NCIS, isn’t the only legacy character from the flagship show who’s appearing in Origins. Mike Franks, previously played by Muse Watson, will also be one of the starring protagonists, and now that we know who will play the younger version of the character, I can’t wait to see the dynamic between him and Young Gibbs.
Kyle Schmid, who starred in the History Channel limited series Six, will play Mike Franks in NCIS: Origins. Schmid’s Franks will lead a ragtag team at the NIS Camp Pendleton office that includes Gibbs, who will be played by Austin Stowell. Per TV Line, the young Franks is described as “a proud Texan who all but showers in his cowboy boots and sports a perfectly coiffed mustache that’s as thick as his skin,” as well as "a born leader with an unwavering moral compass who’s determined to find justice by any means necessary.” I'm even more interested now to learn how the Franks/Gibbs dynamic we know and love from NCIS will start forming on Origins.
If you didn’t see Kyle Schmid in Six, where he played Chief Special Warfare Operator Alex Caulder from SEAL Team Six, you may recognize him from shows like Copper, Being Human or The I-Land. If you’re entirely unfamiliar with him, well, it’s probably safe to say that NCIS: Origins will boost his profile significantly, with the show set to debut sometime during the 2024-2025 TV season. This will be the sixth show in the franchise, following behind the original, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Hawai’i and Sydney (which was just renewed for Season 2).
Along with Schmid and Stowell, Origins will star Mariel Molino as Special Agent Lala Dominguez. There are also reportedly plans for Vera Strickland, Franks’ former partner, to appear, who was originally played by Roma Maffia in NCIS Season 11. Presumably in the coming weeks, we’ll learn what other characters are comprising this team Mike Franks is leading, along with any other series regulars along for the ride. In addition to executive producing alongside his son Sean and show runners Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North, Mark Harmon will narrate the prequel.
Muse Watson first appeared as Mike Franks on NCIS in the Season 3 two-part finale “Hiatus,” where it was revealed he was Gibbs’ former mentor and partner, and was brought in to help Mark Harmon’s character regain his memory after he suffered a concussion. Although Franks retired from NCIS in 1996 because he was displeased with the U.S. government failed to prevent the Khobar Towers bombing, he would occasionally pop in to aid Gibbs and his team on cases, particularly ones where he had a personal stake. Franks was killed by Jonas Cobb, a.k.a. the Port-to-Port killer in Season 8’s “Swan Song,” although it was revealed soon after he was already dying of lung cancer. Watson would go on to reprise his character a handful of times either in flashbacks or as a figment of Gibbs’ imagination through to Season 15.
We’ll continue passing along updates on how NCIS: Origins is coming along. For now, just remember that NCIS and NCIS: Hawai’i are respectively in the middle of their 21st and 3rd seasons on the 2024 TV schedule, and all of this franchise’s shows can be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription.
