Is Tony DiNozzo Here to Stay? NCIS Showrunner Says…

NCIS is leaving the door open for actor Michael Weatherly’s Tony DiNozzo beyond Season 24, but his new job as director does not come with a promised long-term stay.

“Certainly it’s been really great having him in that chair, and I don’t see any reason why it should slow, but I don’t know that we’re looking quite that far yet,” NCIS showrunner and executive producer Steven D. Binder told TV Insider when asked whether Weatherly could return for multiple seasons.

TV Insider revisited the question Nov. 2, bringing together Binder’s comments and Weatherly’s earlier remarks about his season-long comeback. The report leaves a longer run possible, rather than announcing a Season 25 commitment.

That question has more weight now that Tony occupies the director’s office. Instead of slipping back into his old place among the agents, he has returned with responsibility for the agency — and for colleagues who once knew him in a very different role.

Binder explained that the decision grew out of two developments: Weatherly was coming back, and the show had an opening after Leon Vance’s exit. Putting Tony back in the bullpen did not seem right, especially with actor Gary Cole’s Alden Parker already leading the team.

The director’s job offered something else: a way to show Tony’s maturity without stripping away the personality viewers remembered. Binder compared the change to discovering that the kid who used to pull the school fire alarm has become the principal.

Related: Michael Weatherly Calls NCIS Return ‘Truly Amazing’

For Weatherly, the return also allows a familiar character to bring his experiences away from the agency into the room. In its November report, TV Insider recalled an interview it conducted with the actor over the summer.

“We’re going to find for the rest of, at least, this season, a brand new DiNozzo, but he’s just like the DiNozzo you knew and loved before,” Weatherly said of the balance between his character’s growth with the humor that helped define him.

A lot has changed for DiNozzo since his initial exit from NCIS. Weatherly pointed to NCIS: TONY & ZIVA, which let viewers see Tony as a father and business owner making decisions that affected more than himself.

“He still has lots of movie quotes and spunk and verve, but he’s also been through a pretty big learning curve,” Weatherly explained. He described a man more willing to pause and think instead of immediately reacting.

That growth gives the comeback something to work with beyond familiar jokes. Binder said Tony and Timothy McGee, played by actor Sean Murray, now relate as older men who are both parents, rather than simply returning to their old hazing routine.

Tony must also build relationships with colleagues he does not know as well. The director’s office changes the stakes of those introductions: he is not merely joining the group, but learning how to lead it while remaining recognizably himself.

For now, those are the relationships unfolding in Season 24. NCIS airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT, with Paramount+ Premium subscribers able to stream live and on demand and Essential subscribers able to watch on demand the following day.

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