The trailer for NCIS: Origins has arrived. The CBS show is a prequel that is part of the sprawling NCIS universe and set in 1991, when Mark Harmon’s character Leroy Jethro Gibbs, played as a younger man by Austin Stowell, first became a special agent at the NIS Camp Pendleton office. Harmon will remain a part of the upcoming NCIS: Origins as the show’s narrator, alongside an ensemble cast that also includes Mariel Molino, Kyle Schmid, Tyla Abercrumbie, and Diany Rodriguez.
TVLine has now exclusively shared the first official trailer for NCIS: Origins. The trailer introduces the younger version of Gibbs at one of the lowest points of his life, shortly after the murder of his wife and daughter. Having failed his psych evaluation, he has a lot to prove as a newly minted special agent.
As Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” plays in the background and Gibbs works to prove himself on his first set of cases, the trailer details him meeting his gruff future mentor Mike Franks (Schmid), navigating his complicated relationship with his father Jackson Gibbs (Robert Taylor), and attempting to find balance in his life after losing everything and being forced to start over.
What This Trailer Means For NCIS: Origins
Austin Stowell’s Gibbs Is Both New And Familiar
In addition to giving a glimpse of the primary story that the show will be telling, the main offering from the official trailer is a showcase for the NCIS: Origins cast, which has big shoes to fill because Harmon’s version of the main character has become iconic after 19 seasons on the air. The trailer shows that Stowell’s performance retains some of Gibbs’ most enduring qualities, but also presents a much greener and more vulnerable version of the special agent.
The trailer also offers a potential wrinkle to the canon of the NCIS franchise.
However, on top of offering a peek at Stowell’s new version of Gibbs, the trailer also offers a potential wrinkle to the canon of the NCIS franchise. While co-showrunner David North has previously stated that the writers are aware of the canonical fact that, as of 1991, Jackson and his son have not spoken since Gibbs’ wife’s funeral, the trailer appears to show the two of them having a conversation after he joins the Camp Pendleton office. It remains to be seen if there are offscreen extenuating circumstances that make this fit with the canon of the original show.
Our Take On The NCIS: Origins Trailer
The Gibbs Prequel Brings His Character To The Fore
Despite raising some questions, the trailer for NCIS: Origins ultimately seems to reveal one of the most character-focused installments in the franchise yet. While it is also an ensemble show with a crime procedural format, the intensity of Gibbs’ mental state at the beginning of the trailer and the focus the story seems to have on his character and his development into the well-known television icon he becomes seem to be front and center in the new show, giving it a fresh sensibility among the other shows in the universe.
NCIS: Origins premieres on CBS on October 14.