NCIS Origins is to make its debut later this year and while it hasn’t received the best reaction so far, some fans may still be won round.
NCIS fans have expressed their lack of “interest” in the Origins prequel but haven’t ruled it out completely.
The CBS franchise has been at the heart of some controversy following the unexpected cancellation of NCIS: Hawaii after just three seasons earlier this year.
Viewers were left fuming by the island-state spin-off getting axed which was reportedly decided after “financial considerations”.
It didn’t take too long either before a couple of new shows were announced in its wake, one of which will be a prequel entitled NCIS: Origins.
The upcoming drama is going to delve into Agent Leroy Gibbs’ (played by Mark Harmon) past when he first started working at NCIS but many fans are far from impressed.
Taking to Reddit, one user said: “No interest in NCIS: Origins and would have much preferred they let the NCIS: Hawaii show continue to flourish.”
Another agreed: “No and I’m annoyed they cancelled CSI Vegas and Hawaii for the barrage of shows.
“I like Austin Stowell who’s been cast as Gibbs but I’m over CBS atp.”
Whereas someone else commented: “The last two-three years of Gibbs on regular NCIS had me wishing they’d wrap up the show with a series finale, so no, not particularly excited about Origins.”
And while there are many who are not exactly thrilled by the idea of Origins, a Reddit user did suggest something which could bring in more viewers.
They wrote on the forum: “Honestly, I think we had enough of Gibbs. He was kind of… for lack of a better term, two-dimensional.
“Everything that could be done with him was. He was way too technophobic and lacked having stuff that let him flourish like the others. NCIS: Hawaii was far more important.
“However, if Origins doesn’t solely focus on Gibbs, but provides prequels to all the characters, including Vance, Ducky, DiNozzo, and even Shepard or others, it might have some merit. But we really did not need Gibbs back.”
This idea got plenty of upvotes so it appears that NCIS fans could be more interested in prequels about an array of characters, rather than just Gibbs.
Actor Mark Harmon is an executive producer on Origins, as well as the narrator so other stars could take on a similar role in their own prequels if this came to fruition.
Of course, this wouldn’t be possible for a potential Ducky Mallard spin-off as actor David McCallum died in September 2023 aged 90.
But could an Origins franchise still be an avenue to go down to keep lifelong fans happy?