‘Chicago Fire’ Season 11: Jesse Spencer to Return as Matt Casey

As one firefighter takes a break, another returns.

Jesse Spencer will reprise his Chicago Fire role as Matt Casey in an upcoming installment of the NBC drama, our sister site Variety reports.

Spencer’s appearance in Episode 18 comes as longtime series regular Taylor Kinney is taking a leave of absence to deal with a personal matter. It’s not clear yet what will bring Casey back to the Windy City.

Spencer exited Fire in the show’s 200th episode, which aired back in October 2021, after almost 10 seasons as a full-time cast member. His character decided to move to Oregon to take care of his late best friend Andy Darden’s sons, while maintaining an off-screen, long-distance relationship with Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer).

At the time of Spencer’s exit, the actor explained, “I realized I’ve been doing TV for a long time. I added it up, and I think this year is my 18th year of network television [between Fire and House]…. It was a difficult decision because I’ve loved the show from the start, but there are other things that I would like to do in the future, and there’s some family that I need to take care of, and 18 years is a long time.”

Spencer left the door open for a comeback and he made good on it: Casey later returned in the Season 10 finale for Severide and Stella’s wedding, which he attended with his girlfriend Brett. However, that romance didn’t last: The couple broke up over the phone in this season’s premiere, with Brett lamenting that the timing just wasn’t right for them.

Kinney’s Severide last appeared in the Feb. 22 episode, and his absence was explained in the March 1 installment, when it was revealed that he had gone to Alabama for an arson investigation training program.

Chicago Fire fans, how are you feeling about Casey’s return? Hit the comments!