Chicago Fire Star Taylor Kinney Returning in Season 12

Whenever Chicago Fire makes its return to NBC for Season 12, Kelly Severide will be returning as well. Arguably the show’s most popular character, Severide has been a mainstay since Chicago Fire first premiered back in 2012, that is until this past year. Star Taylor Kinney took a leave of absence from the series to deal with a personal matter, which caused the show to take Severide away from the action for the remainder of Season 11. 

After a 10-month break, Kinney is now set to make his way back to Chicago Fire. According to Deadline, the Chicago Fire writers room opened earlier this month and the first handful of scripts for Season 12 include the character of Severide. While there hasn’t been any official confirmation from NBC or Wolf Entertainment about exactly how long Kinney will be returning for, Deadline‘s report indicates that he is expected to return on a full-time basis.

Kinney’s Kelly Severide has been away from the Chicago Fire spotlight since January, with his most recent episode ending in February. An episode that aired in March revealed that Severide had gone to Alabama to participated in an arson training program. The character’s wife, Stella, has remained a part of the series. After finding out that he left Alabama to help with an ATF investigation, Stella revealed in the Season 11 finale that she was going to take some time away from work in order to bring him home. 

During Kinney’s absence, Chicago Fire opted to bring in some reinforcements near the end of Season 11. Jesse Spencer, who starred on the show as Matt Casey for 10 seasons, returned for a two-episode guest starring stint earlier this year, helping fill the void left behind by Severide.

While we know that Kinney will be bringing Severide back to Chicago Fire for Season 12, we still don’t know exactly when that new season will be debuting. The writers’ strike has ended, allowing the scripts to for the new season to be completed, but the SAG-AFTRA strike continues. Once the guild reaches a deal with the AMPTP and actors can return to work, it will still take some time to film and produce new episodes before they can start airing on NBC.

Are you excited to see Kelly Severide back in action on Chicago Fire? Let us know in the comments!