Law & Order is just over a month away from returning with its first new episode in more than a decade with the revival for Season 21. The show is bringing back some familiar faces while also adding plenty of new ones, and will fill out a full night of Law & Order action for NBC on Thursdays. The return was announced back in the early fall, and the premiere date was set in November, but fans had to wait until the new year to get a look at Jack McCoy back in action.
And based on the promo that delivered the first look at Law & Order Season 21, Jack McCoy is ready to play the hero once again, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Sam Waterston’s iconic character will always come out on top. Check out the footage for yourself:
Sam Waterston back in a suit and ready for action on Law & Order? Yes please! The footage shows McCoy saying that “it’s okay to play the hero… as long as you win.” Any fans who watched Law & Order in its original run (or any of the spinoffs) know that the good guys don’t always win when it comes to TV’s criminal justice system, but based on SVU and Organized Crime, more people willing to play the hero are always going to be necessary in the L&O universe.
Although the promo is brief, it also gives a look at some new stars and their characters. First up is Good Trouble’s Odelya Halevi, looking poised in a courtroom to play Assistant District Attorney Samantha Maroun. Next up is Burn Notice alum Jeffrey Donovan, who will be playing an NYPD detective. Finally, there’s Hannibal veteran Hugh Dancy, playing senior prosecutorial assistant Nathan Price.
The first look doesn’t reveal any other returning stars beyond the venerable Sam Waterston, although Anthony Anderson has not only confirmed his return as Detective Kevin Bernard, but shared a behind-the-scenes look at him working alongside Jeffrey Donovan while filming for the revival. There are other candidates to potentially return, although it could be tricky for actors like Jeremy Sisto and S. Epatha Merkerson to reprise their roles, as both have series regular roles on other shows in the same TV universe as Law & Order.
Sisto stars in FBI over on CBS, while Merkerson has been a rock on NBC's Chicago Med from the very beginning. Of course, other actors within the Wolf Entertainment universe have played multiple different characters between the different shows, so it’s hard to rule much out. Perhaps even Jesse L. Martin could turn up, as he has been a figure on TV in recent years thanks to The Flash over on The CW.
Viewers will just have to wait for more details to release – or at least a longer promo for the long-awaited return of Law & Order. The show will return to NBC for Season 21 on Thursday, February 24 at 8 p.m. ET, bumping The Blacklist back to Fridays and setting L&O up to open a full night of drama with Law & Order: SVU at 9 p.m. and Law & Order: Organized Crime at 10 p.m. For more of what’s on the way in 2022 (new and returning), be sure to check out our 2022 winter and spring premiere schedule.
