It has been almost a decade since Michael Weatherly left NCIS, and yet, it’s only now that the procedural has been able to have his perfect replacement. The NCIS franchise may have been on the air for more than two decades, but it remains at the forefront of the TV zeitgeist, with the flagship going strong alongside two broadcast spinoffs. In 2025, it also debuted its very first streaming offshoot, NCIS: Tony & Ziva, which saw the small screen reunion for Weatherly and Cote de Pablo’s star-crossed lovers.

Ahead of his spinoff return, Weatherly’s DiNozzo appeared in NCIS season 21’s special Ducky sendoff episode. Admittedly, it was bizarre seeing him back in the bullpen after all these years, especially considering how much had changed with MCRT by then. Currently, the fate of NCIS: Tony & Ziva season 2 is still up in the air, which means that Weatherly may continue to play DiNozzo via the offshoot. As the chances of him returning to the main show are very slim, it’s fortunate that NCIS has finally found his perfect replacement in season 23.

Dale Sawyer Becomes The Full Embodiment Of Tony DiNozzo’s NCIS Successor