Big Bang Theory Star Jim Parsons Reveals If Sheldon Will Appear in Spinoff

With The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon now both over and done with, do fans of the ongoing Big Bang franchise have reason to hope they’ll see Jim Parsons back on screen as Sheldon Cooper? That’s one of the biggest questions on the minds of viewers as yet another Big Bang Theory spinoff prepares to launch.

The Max streaming service is readying a new series set in the modern world of The Big Bang Theory, most likely following Stuart and his comic book shop. Original supporting actors Kevin Sussman, Brian Posehn, and Lauren Lapkus have signed deals to potentially reprise their roles as Stuart Bloom, Bert Kibbler, and Susan Fischer, respectively. With all of that going on, it feels like the option for Sheldon or other main characters to come back is at least on the table. For his part, though, Jim Parsons currently isn’t planning on appearing in the new series.

“As we sit here now, no, but I also would never say never to anything, because life changes so much,” Parsons said during an appearance on Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? (per Deadline). “You know, one of the things is that it was so special as what it was, as what it is. And they call it lightning in a bottle for a reason, and you can be certain it wouldn’t be that. And so why would we be doing it? I don’t know, that’s how I feel on that right now. But like I say, God willing, life is very long.”

Parsons definitely leaves the door open for a Sheldon Cooper return at some point on this new spinoff show, should a good opportunity arise. He doesn’t sound like someone who is ready to swear off his career-making character entirely. That said, there’s nothing in the immediate future that suggests we’ll be seeing much of Parsons on the Max series, should it actually happen.

After appearing in all 280 episodes of The Big Bang Theory — and winning four Emmys for his performance — Parsons continued his Sheldon Cooper work by executive producing prequel series Young Sheldon. Parsons also narrated the series as the older version of Sheldon, in addition to appearing on-screen in flash-forward scenes on occasion. He returned to the role one last time in the recent series finale.

The Big Bang Theory franchise hasn’t slowed down since the conclusion of the original series back in 2019. Young Sheldon just ended its seven season run on CBS and set up its own sequel/spinoff title, Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage. That new series premieres on CBS this week.