‘Chicago Fire’ Star Jesse Spencer Returns to the Firehouse Amid Taylor Kinney Absence

ChiHards have reason to rejoice! Matt Casey is back in Chicago. Jesse Spencer, who left NBC’s “Chicago Fire” in 2021 after 200 episodes, will return for the 18th episode of Season 11, Variety confirms. Season 11 is currently filming throughout the Chicagoland area.

Spencer portrayed 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, Spencer wanted to take a step back from television and spend more time with his family. Last year, he went back to his stomping grounds of Australia for six months to film a lead role in Disney+’s upcoming series, “Last Days of the Space Age.”

Let’s take a look at One Chicago’s “Essential Casey” moments as ChiHards gear up for the big return…

This marks Spencer’s second return to Firehouse 51 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).

The Season 11 return comes at a pivotal time for Dick Wolf’s “One Chicago” franchise amid a series of exits. Most notabley, fan fave Taylor 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 February 22 episode.

Click here to catch up on current and past seasons of Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Chicago Med.

Last but not least, be sure to follow SCREEN Magazine on Twitter and join in as we bring you fun polls, chats, and live tweets during the Wednesday night premieres!

Check back here at SCREEN for the latest news on the One Chicago trio of superb shows. You can also click right here to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter.