NCIS Has a Big Change Coming for ORIGINS Season 3

Published: January 30, 2026

By Michaela Gordoni

NCIS: ORIGINS has a change in store for Season 3 — a key showrunner won’t be on the project.

Gina Lucita Monreal, who was a showrunner for the first two seasons of ORIGINS and has worked on dozens of NCIS episodes, is making a departure to work on other unnamed projects, TV Insider reported.

“It’s been the biggest honor of my career to write NCIS: ORIGINS alongside my incredible co-showrunner and friend David North,” Monreal said in a statement. “I want to thank Amy Reisenbach, David Stapf, and everyone at CBS Network and Studio for their support.”

“To have had this opportunity to work again with the incomparable Mark Harmon, Sean Harmon, our writers, and the best cast and crew in the business — how lucky am I? I can’t wait to see what this extraordinary group cooks up for Season 3,” she said.

CBS renewed the series for another season on Jan. 22. It’s one of 16 shows that made the cut. NCIS and NCIS: SYDNEY are also renewed. NCIS: TONY & ZIVA was cancelled.

North said, “Long before Gina was my incredible writing partner on NCIS: ORIGINS, she was, and remains, one of my closest friends. I couldn’t have imagined launching this show with anyone else, and even though Gina won’t be working with us on a daily basis next season, the characters and stories she helped create will live on. I can’t wait to team up with her again in the future.”

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Collider reported Monreal left in 2021 after working on NCIS for 10 years but came back a couple years later.

NCIS: ORIGINS explores the early career days of Leroy Jethro Gibbs and the NCIS team. It stars Austin Stowell as Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Mariel Molino as Lala Dominguez, Kyle Schmid as Mike Franks, Tyla Abercrumbie as Mary Jo Hayes, Diany Rodriguez as Vera Strickland and Caleb Foote as Bernard “Randy” Randolf.

Season 2 is still airing. It’s expected to wrap up in May 2026. The next episode comes out on Feb. 24.

With the second season still underway, there’s no news or speculation of what Season 3 will look like. But hopefully, North will do just fine at the helm of the upcoming season.

NCIS Season 24 will premiere in the fall, and Season 23 resumes on March 3.

NCIS showrunner Steven D. Binder told TVLine of Season 23, “We open with a lot of heat, a lot of action — and we’re hoping to not let up,” which can pretty much be said of any NCIS season.

NCIS fans, hang on tight. New ORIGINS episodes are out next month.

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