A familiar face is blowing into the Windy City come season 11, as Nick Gehlfuss is set to return to Chicago Med.
Gehlfuss, 40, will reprise his role as Dr. Will Halstead in a guest-starring role for the upcoming season, Us Weekly can confirm. (Deadline was first to report the casting news.)
It is unknown how many episodes the actor will appear in or when he’ll make his long-awaited return. However, season 11 premieres on Wednesday, October 1.
Gehlfuss is an original star of Chicago Med, making his debut during the series premiere in November 2015.
Fans initially met Gehlfuss’ Will Halstead during a season 2 episode of Chicago P.D. in March 2015 when he reconnected with his brother, police officer Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer), who was part of Chicago’s Intelligence Unit. (Soffer left P.D. in October 2022 at the start of season 10.)
Throughout his time in the One Chicago universe, Gehlfuss guest starred on both Chicago P.D. and Chicago Fire as his surgeon character.
After eight seasons playing Dr. Halstead on Chicago Med, the actor surprised fans when he exited the series during the May 2023 finale.
His farewell episode was bittersweet. Sadly, Will left Chicago for a new adventure, but in a twist of fate, he reconnected with his ex-fiancée, Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto), when he landed at the Seattle airport.
The goodbye hinted at Will and Natalie’s happily ever after, which many fans hope hasn’t crumbled now that he’s coming back to Gaffney Chicago Medical Center.
Gehlfuss previously teased that his season 8 departure wasn’t the closing of a door, telling Variety in May 2023, “We were all in agreement on that, thankfully, as I talked with Dick [Wolf] and the writers. Whenever it makes sense again for important moments, I’d love to don the white lab coat once again.”
How Gehlfuss’ Dr. Halstead will fit back into the hospital ecosystem has yet to be seen, but fans have a lot to look forward to when the show returns.
During the season 10 finale, which aired in May, viewers saw a pregnant Dr. Hannah Asher (Jessy Schram) go to Dr. Dean Archer’s (Steven Weber) house instead of ex-boyfriend Dr. Mitch Ripley’s (Luke Mitchell) place to seemingly talk about her pregnancy.
Hannah has yet to tell Ripley that he’s the father, which raised eyebrows among viewers, some of whom think maybe someone else is the dad.
Showrunner Allen MacDonald exclusively told Us in May that Hannah’s pregnancy and relationship with Ripley is an “unfortunate wait and see” situation, noting it’s a “very complicated story.”
That answer, as well as the fate of Dr. Caitlin Lenox (Sarah Ramos) as a surgeon, who was diagnosed with a rare neurodegenerative disorder, will all come out next season.
MacDonald teased that Lenox’s diagnosis forces her to “reassess” her lifestyle choices moving forward.
Chicago Med returns for season 11 on NBC Wednesday, October 1, at 8 p.m. ET followed by Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET.
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