Elliot Stabler’s Return to Law & Order: Cast, Release Date & More

After years of being away from the Law & Order universe built by Dick Wolf, Christopher Meloni’s Elliot Stabler is returning in a new spin-off of the series. The untitled show’s season one was set to air in the fall of 2020, but it may now be delayed due to the coronavirus.

Meloni left his role on Law & Order: SVU nine years ago when his character retired from the force after a shooting at the SVU headquarters. Now, Stabler will return as the head of a unit specializing in organized crime.

When the new series is aired, there will be a total of seven scripted series from Dick Wolf on the air at the same time.

The Show Will Star Christopher Meloni

No cast for the show has been announced yet other than Meloni, but Stabler’s wife Kathy, who was played by Isabel Gillies is likely to reprise her role.

Though the season finale of SVU was not filmed due to the coronavirus, Gillies and one of Stabler’s five children was set to appear in the episode. It’s possible that that episode was going to provide a spin-off point for the new series. It also may have featured Meloni as a surprise in the episode.

There was always a possibility that Stabler would show back up on SVU at some point, as Meloni has said repeatedly that his exit from the show was mutual and he loved everyone he worked with on set.

Stabler and his then-partner, Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), were very close, and Hargitay and Meloni were good friends in real life. Hargitay posted on Instagram to wish Meloni Happy Birthday and welcome him back to the show.

The star wrote, “Happy Birthday @chris_meloni Congratulations and welcome home Elliot Stabler #It’sBeenAWhile #MissedYou #ElliotStabler.” Excited fans replied to express their joy at the possible reunion, and it’s likely that, since Stabler has always been a fan-favorite character, the show may be on the air for the long run.

A short dive into comments on Meloni’s Instagram posts also reveal fans constantly asking him to reprise his role as Stabler, even what is now almost a decade out from his leaving the show.

The Release Date is Set for Fall 2020

NBC has ordered a 13-episode season one for the show, and it was originally set to be on the air starting in the fall of 2020. It’s unclear whether that will be the case now that the coronavirus has caused the shutdown of most Hollywood productions for the foreseeable future.

Fans can likely look forward to a reunion between Benson and Stabler at the beginning of the first season since that’s one of the main things people have been asking the writers of SVU for in the past years.

Law & Order SVU airs on NBC on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

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