Well, Vance Died. So Whose the Next NCIS Director?

Published: March 30, 2026

By Michaela Gordoni

NCIS director Leon Vance was killed off in NCIS’ 500th episode, and it’s unclear who will take his place.

“The team will be grieving, of course. But we felt it important that, at the end of the [500th] episode, the team is just as focused on Vance’s sacrifice as they are their loss. Vance died to protect them all. And they are going to honor that by putting one foot in front of the other, and just continuing on their mission to protect and safeguard their country,” EP Steven D. Binder said.

In 2024, Rocky Carroll, who plays Vance, said he believes his character would want Timothy McGee to take his place.

“McGee is one of the original members,” Carroll continued. “He’s seen his evolution, he’s seen his growth. As opposed to being sort of the foil to DiNozzo [Michael Weatherly], he knows that there’s a level of maturity that he possessed.”

“And over the years, he’s grown. He’s a husband, he’s a father, he understands responsibility more. I think Vance sees a lot of himself in McGee — family man, kids. I think that’s why he thinks that if the time, whenever that time comes, McGee could be the one to fill that chair because he understands what it means to be sort of the provider and how to run a family,” he said.

The NCIS writers could also pivot to someone new. It could be an entirely fresh face or someone from another NCIS show. TV Insider threw out some names: Scott Bakula from NCIS: NEW ORLEANS, LL Cool J‘s Sam Hanna from NCIS: LA or Vanessa Lachey’s Jane Tennant from NCIS: HAWAI’I.

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Carroll said of his character’s demise, “I’ve had time to come to terms, I found out about this in November. If this had happened in my third season, it would have been devastating. But 18 seasons is rarefied air.”

“If someone offered a role on NCIS and said something bad is going to happen in Season 18, there’s not an actor on the planet who wouldn’t say, ‘Where do I sign?’ It’s the equivalent of living until you’re 105,” he said.

Ahead of the 500th episode, Binder said he doesn’t have any problem replacing characters as long as it’s done right.

He told Variety, “You can lose somebody as long as they’re replaced in the right way with the right person and that family/team ensemble dynamic continues. Now, obviously different people have their favorite characters, and those people are bummed when their favorite character leaves. But I think if you were to poll our audiences, the favoritism is relatively equal.”

The next new episode of NCIS, titled “Fleeting,” comes out on March 31 on CBS.

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