Original Mike Franks Actor Returns To NCIS After 8 Years In New Trippy Set Photo

After 8 years, the original Mike Franks actor returns to NCIS in a new set image. CBS’s 2025-2026 TV schedule may have started late, but with all of its major shows now airing, some are able to be more experimental with their offerings. The NCIS franchise is one of them, as the procedural universe stages its first crossovers in years — this time, between the flagship and NCIS: Origins.

The NCIS franchise now airs on Tuesdays, taking over CBS’ primetime block after broadcasting Monday nights for several years. This also allows for an easier way to plan its latest crossover despite NCIS and NCIS: Origins being set in different time and space. The special two-hour event was confirmed to bring back Mark Harmon and Roma Maffia as older versions of Gibbs and Vera, but they weren’t the only legacy actors in the special.

As confirmed by a new set image from the NCIS: Origins leg of the crossover from co-showrunner David J. North, Muse Watson was on-set to film the aging scene of Franks. For context, the sequence starts with Kyle Schmid on the screen, and as time passes, he gradually morphs into Watson’s version. Check out the aforementioned image below, as well as other snaps from the crossover’s production:

The NCIS 2025 crossover is overall good. It features so many nostalgic Easter eggs, starting with Harmon’s physical return as Gibbs. That said, if there’s a major wasted opportunity in it, it’s definitely CBS’s failure to reunite Watson and Harmon’s older Franks and Gibbs. Watson was already on set for his NCIS: Origins timelapse sequence, it shouldn’t have been difficult for the show to come up with another hallucination scene between Franks and his protégé.

For context, after Franks’ brutal death in NCIS season 8, the CBS procedural has been able to continue bringing him back through Gibbs’ imagined conversations with him. Watson’s character used to appear whenever Harmon’s character was at a crossroad. He functioned as a sounding board for the then-MCRT leader. Those scenes make seeing Austin Stowell and Schmid’s versions of their characters in NCIS: Origins more interesting.

At this point, it’s anybody’s guess if Watson and Harmon are going to share the screen ever again. Seeing the two versions of Franks, however, is a reminder of how brilliantly Schmid was cast as a younger version of the cigarette-smoking agent. Hopefully CBS finds more opportunities to bring legacy actors back to NCIS.

NCIS airs new episodes every Tuesday, 8 PM ET on CBS.