Bringing a popular character into a prequel setting as a younger version of themselves can be tricky, especially when the character is as iconic as Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs on “NCIS.” Now, a new “NCIS” Instagram reel shows Austin Stowell getting his 1990s-era Gibbs haircut and posing in the character’s clothes for the prequel series “NCIS: Origins.” Indeed, it looks like the prequel series is aiming to capture Gibbs’ essence from the actor’s performance instead of reproducing the parted-at-the-middle style that Harmon famously wears.
The extremely short-haired look is a marked departure from the older Gibbs’ hairstyle, sure, but combine it with Stowell’s stern, cleanly shaven face and no-nonsense clothing, and it’s not entirely impossible to see something very Gibbs-like shining through. Of course, with “NCIS: Origins” Jackson Gibbs played by “Longmire” star Robert Taylor and the confirmation that Vera Strickland (Roma Maffia) also returns on “Origins,” Stowell is hardly the only actor tasked with portraying a 1990s version of a familiar “NCIS” character. This will bring the franchise into the past while still keeping the characters fully recognizable.
Young Gibbs isn’t so long-haired after all
It’s worth noting that the look we see on the Instagram reel is very different from the one that the show dropped earlier. In May, an early-look photo revealed that Austin Stowell’s “Origins” Gibbs will look different from Mark Harmon’s, thanks to his long, flowing locks — a far cry from the shorter look in the new clip. Perhaps this hairstyle was a test run to gauge audience response, or simply what Gibbs looks like before enrolling in the NCIS academy and receiving the new cut.
Of course, it’s understandable that “NCIS: Origins” opts to keep young Gibbs’ look simple. A show like “Young Sheldon” can use wardrobe changes to gradually transition a younger, bow tie-wearing Sheldon Cooper (Iain Armitage) toward his superhero T-shirt-loving “Big Bang Theory” incarnation (Jim Parsons). “Origins,” on the other hand, faces an arguably tougher challenge. Gibbs’ relatively generic sense of style lacks the clear visual cues of, say, Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette), which means that making young Gibbs a truly believable version of the iconic NCIS agent has to be achieved in other ways. Keeping the character’s look relatively streamlined seems like a pretty good starting point — as does the fact that Mark Harmon himself will return to narrate his younger self’s adventures.