'NCIS' Fans Are in a Heated Debate About Gibbs After Wilmer Valderrama's IG Update

NCIS fans, it’s almost time to head back to Washington D.C. to solve a new batch of cases and get down to the bottom of looming questions. In the meantime, Wilmer Valderrama is giving fans a much-needed update about new season 20 episodes.

On July 14, the actor shared behind-the-scenes footage of the NCIS cast getting ready to start filming. In the minute-long Instagram video, Wilmer is accompanied by fellow CBS stars, including Sean Murray, Brian Dietzen, Diona Reasonover and Katrina Law. Though the stars of the procedural drama excitedly spoke over each other, the 70s Show alum perfectly summed up the group’s message.

“NCIS is back for season 20!” Wilmer said in the snippet. “We’re back on set. We’re very happy … You’ve been warned. We’re after doing things that you’ve never seen from NCIS and we’re switching things up that will surprise you along the way … Get ready. September 19, see you guys there.”

After seeing the NCIS cast reunite and share a sneak peek of what’s to come, fans headed over to the comments section to rejoice over the news.

“Oh my god, very very good news, so excited, love it 😍🔥❤️❤️❤️,” one person wrote. “Yes!! I’m so excited! Have fun filming everyone! Can’t wait for season 20! 😊🔥🔥,” another added. “I'm glad it continued and didn’t end with Mark leaving,” a different fan said.

That said, the feeling wasn’t mutual across the entire NCIS fandom. Unsurprisingly, there was only one name on their mind — Gibbs. As viewers know, actor Mark Harmon departed from the show at the beginning of season 19 last fall. While there had been rumors about him leaving, many had hoped he would continue to reappear throughout the series as a guest star. But this didn’t happen.

Still, fans haven’t lost hope. “Is Gibbs coming back?” a follower commented. “Can’t wait but is Gibbs there too or what?!” someone else replied. “Gibbs I hope will be on some!” another chimed in.

Since his character was last seen happily fishing in a river, showrunner/executive producer Steven D. Binder hasn’t shot down the idea of Gibbs returning. Speaking with TV Insider, he shared insight about what the process could look like.

“There’s always head space for him to come back. It just has to be the right story, I think, to get him excited about it and to get us excited about it,” he told the outlet. “It’s a card to play, and I don’t think we want to play it cheaply. I think when we do play it, it really needs to be the right thing.”

Until then, we’ll just be checking out the rest of the NCIS cast’s Instagrams for other behind-the-scenes photos to hold us over. Who knows, we might just see Mark/Gibbs walking around in the background.

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