Could Michael Weatherly Join ‘NCIS: Hawaii’ After His ‘Bull’ Exit?

With his time on Bull coming to an end, Michael Weatherly is about to be a free agent again — unless the actor is leaving Bull for NCIS: Hawaii.

Some NCIS fans have hoped that Michael would reprise his role of NCIS Senior Agent Anthony “Tony” DiNozzo Jr. on the Aloha State-set spinoff. “If Micheal Weatherly is on, then I’m watching [Hawaii] like glue,” one fan wrote on Reddit.

Another tweeted, “Hey, CBS, can we get Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly to lead the team in NCIS: Hawaii, please?”

So far, however, there’s no indication that Michael is reprising his most famous character—on Hawaii or anywhere else in the NCIS universe. And after his recent bad press, it seems uncertain that NCIS: Hawaii producers would even jump at the chance to bring Michael aboard.

Michael was one of the original stars of NCIS: He was on hand as DiNozzo when the long-running CBS procedural debuted in September 2003. In January 2016, though, he announced he’d be leaving NCIS at the end of the show’s then-current 13th season.

“DiNozzo is a wonderful, quixotic character and I couldn’t have had more fun playing him over the past 13 seasons,” he tweeted at the time, adding that playing the character was the role of a lifetime. “I will miss the amazing crew and cast, who are like family to me, and to the fans all over the world, thank you. It’s been a fantastic ride!”

But the actor stayed gainfully employed by CBS: That March, he signed on the dotted line to star as the titular character in the legal drama Bull.

On Tuesday, Jan. 18, Michael told Twitter followers he’d be departing Bull. “I’ve decided it’s time to pursue new creative challenges and bring his story to a close,” he wrote. “It has been an honor to work with this talented cast, crew, and writing/producing team who helped reinvent the legal drama. Stay tuned for a big series finish. Thanks to all the fans from the bottom of my heart.”

That same day, CBS announced that Bull would end upon Michael’s departure, ending a scandal-plagued six-season run for the series. In 2018, for example, CBS paid a $9.5-million settlement to actress Eliza Dushku to settle her sexual harassment claims after she relayed comments Michael made that made her uncomfortable, as The New York Times reported at the time.

This November, Eliza shared her experience with a Bull “co-star” in a testimony before a congressional committee. “In front of about 100 crew members and cast members, he once said that he would take me to his ‘rape’ van and use lube and long phallic things on me and take me over his knee and spank me like a little girl,” she said, per Deadline.

And last year, showrunner Glenn Gordon Caron exited as showrunner of Bull following an investigation into allegations of a toxic work environment, according toThe Hollywood Reporter.