Casey is back in Chicago, once again. Jesse Spencer, who left NBC’s “Chicago Fire” in 2021 after 200 episodes, will return for the 18th episode of Season 11, Variety confirms. Details about his storyline are still under wraps.
Spencer portrayed Matt Casey on the Dick Wolf drama for the first nine seasons. He left during the the fifth episode of Season 10, as the character moved to Oregon with a three-year commitment to a new job.
At the time, he shared that he was walking away from the show since he’d been doing television for 18 years and wanted to take a step back and spend more time with his family. (He previously starred in the Australian soap “Neighbours” and portrayed Dr. Robert Chase on Fox’s “House.”) Last year, he went back to Australia for six months to film a lead role in Disney+’s upcoming series, “Last Days of the Space Age.”
This marks Spencer’s second return to the procedural since his exit, first coming back for the Season 10 finale, when he stood next to his best friend, Severide (Taylor Kinney), at his wedding to Stella (Miranda Ray Mayo).
Adrian S. Burrows Sr./NBC
The Season 11 return comes at an important time for the “One Chicago” franchise amid a slew of exits. Kinney is on a temporary leave of absence from the show due to a personal matter and made his last appearance, for now, during the Feb. 22 episode. His character was written off during the March 1 episode, with Severide enrolling into an out-of-town arson investigation training program.
At the end of Season 11, co-creator and co-showrunner Derek Haas will also be leaving the franchise.
“I learned everything I know about storytelling, pace, characters, production values, and hiring the best cast, crews, and staffs from Dick Wolf and Peter Jankowski,” he told Variety in a statement in November. “As hard as it is to leave a place you love and have called home for over a decade, including incredible support from Universal Television, NBC and CBS, I look forward to building my own brand in entertainment.”
“Chicago Fire” airs on NBC Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
