What To Know
- Michael Weatherly will return as Tony DiNozzo for a season-long arc in NCIS Season 24.
- Weatherly teased his return during a convention appearance over the weekend of July 11-12.
NCIS fans are in for a treat, and it’s getting closer and closer to it playing out onscreen. We’re talking, of course, of Michael Weatherly‘s return for a season-long arc on the long-running CBS drama this fall. He was one of the show’s original stars, having debuted as Tony DiNozzo on the two-episode JAG backdoor pilot before serving as a series regular until he left at the end of Season 13.
Weatherly appeared alongside Cote de Pablo at a fan convention, Comic Con Midlands in Birmingham, United Kingdom, the weekend of July 11 and 12, and during a panel, he opened up about his upcoming return for NCIS Season 24. He also revealed he’ll begin filming on Tuesday, July 14.
“It’s going to be very interesting to see what is revealed and unfurled, but I can tell you this: There is a definite connection between [Tony & Ziva] and the canon that that created within — there’s not going to be retconning of like, oh, Tony & Ziva never happened,” Weatherly said, sitting with de Pablo.
Michael on his return to the mothership and the connection to NCIS: Tony & Ziva pic.twitter.com/Qo8IdzZQvF
— Laura. (@a11laura) July 12, 2026
He continued, teasing, “God, I wish I could tell you one great thing. … I just know that it’s going to be an exciting return and sort of back to what Cote was saying, the formula of the original show, with the crime and the investigation and the red herring at the turn of the hour and everyone chasing around and all the interpersonal play. I have really enjoyed watching what the show has done over the last 10 years since I left, but it’s a different show now. So, I’m very much about respecting the show I’m coming into and being aware that they’ve built an extraordinarily successful tenure run but, that doesn’t mean that what we did isn’t going to be able to live alongside and inside that show, and if I say any more, I’m going to start saying specific things, so I’m going to be quiet.”
Weatherly and de Pablo starred in NCIS: Tony & Ziva, a Paramount+ spinoff that was canceled after one season. It saw their characters’ reunion in France, which had only been assumed offscreen after Ziva was revealed to have faked her death, and the ups and downs of their personal relationship, both in the past and present, as they worked together on a case that took them across Europe. By the end, their names were cleared, and they were back together, living as a family with their daughter, Tali (Isla Gie).
Weatherly’s return to NCIS was announced on July 1. It is said to be a season-long arc, but no details beyond that have been given. Among the major questions has to be why Ziva won’t be with Tony in D.C., since a return from de Pablo hasn’t been announced (yet?).
NCIS, Season 24, Fall 2026, Tuesdays, 8/7c, CBS