As NCIS: Origins explores the foundational years of Gibbs and the titular agency, showrunners David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal explain why the origin story will be a grittier affair than the main series. With Mark Harmon briefly returning to reprise the role of a now-retired Leroy Jethro Gibbs looking back on his career, Austin Stowell will take on the role of the younger Gibbs in 1991. Alongside the younger Gibbs, Kyle Schmid will take on the role of Mike Franks, Gibbs’ mentor originally played by Muse Watson.
In an interview with TVLine, North and Monreal opened up about how the series promises to be a far different take on the world and characters. With the series having a darker tone and tale compared to its source material, they wanted to have a visual style that fits better with both the story and the setting.
North: and as proud as I am of what we’ve built at NCIS, this doesn’t look like that. Tonally, we’re a little darker, and the whole look of the show, we wanted it to look current yet ’90s, and I think that [director] Niels Arden Oplev and our DOP, Kevin McKnight, delivered that perfectly.”
Furthermore, Monreal states that the Naval Investigative Service is far from a well-funded and maintained agency, meaning that Gibbs, Franks, and the other agents will be on the back foot in their early days.
What NCIS: Origins Showrunners’ Comments Reveal About The Series
With the year chosen for the setting of NCIS: Origins, it may be unsurprising that the series will have a much darker tone compared to NCIS. While Gibbs was deployed with the Marines during Operation Desert Storm, he lost his wife Shannon and daughter Kelly after they witnessed the murder committed by a drug cartel leader. His grief led him to the wound that would ultimately lead to his discharge from the Navy.
As such, when the younger Gibbs is introduced in the new prequel series, he will understandably still be in a dark place even after coping with his loss and finding catharsis in ending the life of the man who took his family’s lives. While several events throughout his NIS career have been established in the main series, NCIS: Origins’ proposed setting will be set in a largely unexplored period.
Our Take On NCIS: Origin’s Darker Tone
North and Monreal’s comments have set up NCIS: Origins as a far different affair from what came before. While the original characters in NCIS had to learn how to work alongside one another, they were all members of an established organization. In comparison, the younger, less experienced Gibbs and his NIS team are unproven, inexperienced, and have to make a name for themselves. As such, not only may Gibbs and his team be underfunded and fending for themselves in NCIS: Origins, but they may even be more susceptible to failure as they learn the ropes.
