Saying this into existence! Chicago Fire fans aren’t the only ones ready for Jesse Spencer’s return to the series, showrunner Derek Haas wants him back this season.
“That would be awesome,” Haas, 51, told reporters via TVLine during a One Chicago Day press conference on Wednesday, March 30. “It would be a good move for our show if we could get Jesse to come back.”
The creator of Chicago Fire said that a week before he had spoken with 43-year-old Spencer, noting: “I really hope that this will happen.”
Haas teased, “So all systems look good.”
Spencer portrayed Captain Matthew Casey on the NBC drama for more than nine seasons before leaving the series after the fifth episode of the 10th season, which aired in October 2021.
As season 10 continues to unfold—new episodes air on Wednesdays on NBC—the character Spencer remains part of the storyline. Captain Casey’s relationship with paramedic Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) has been in the spotlight this season, despite the fact that Spencer has left the series.
Haas explained Wednesday that while he doesn’t want to “promise anything until the camera turns on,” he feels good about Spencer’s potential return before the end of the year.
“We really hope that we will see both Casey and [his girlfriend] Brett in the [season] finale, because grandiose, large—scale and exciting things are waiting for us,” the producer teased. “It’s going to be the best ending, I’ll say that.”
Earlier, Haas hinted that the wedding between Casey’s best friend on television, Lieutenant Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) and Lieutenant Stella Kidd (Miranda Ray Mayo) could be a big plot twist that will bring Spencer’s character back to his family from one Chicago.
“I’d be sad if Casey wasn’t at the wedding,” Haas told Variety in February, noting that he liked how the writers had handled the on—screen long-distance relationship between Casey and Brett so far. “We thought it was realistic, especially nowadays, that people could maintain relationships. We had fun because we love Casey so much as writers that we want him to continue his presence.”
Spencer, for his part, was optimistic about his possible return in the fall of 2021, as he temporarily said goodbye to his colleagues in the film “Fire”.
“For me, this completes ten years. I think it was pretty organic that he was leaving, and he was leaving for three years, but is that so? We don’t know,” the Australian native told reporters last year. “It’s been a long time since you know how these comrades went through life and death together. It’s hard to say goodbye, you know, I’ll see you soon, sort of. It was bittersweet, but I really liked it, and we had a little laugh.”
