Will Taylor Kinney's Severide Make a Return in Chicago Fire Season 12?
There is no real reason to believe that he won't.
A number of TV series have experienced major budget cuts recently, and Wolf Entertainment's popular franchise is no exception. Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med all suffered from this, as it was NBC's decision to keep all these shows running for another season. Among other things, this means that the main cast of actors is going to appear in fewer episodes than usual.
The thing is, actors in significant roles in TV series get episodic guarantees in their contracts — the number of episodic fees they are entitled to get per season. For the Chicago franchise series, the standard number was 22, and now it reportedly is going down to 18–20.
This news got fans wondering: what does this mean to one particular cast member, Taylor Kinney, and the beloved character he plays on Chicago Fire — Lieutenant Kelly Severide?
From the beginning, Severide was one of the main characters in the show, but right now, Taylor Kinney is taking a break from the project. In January, the actor confirmed that he was going to take a leave as he needed to deal with an undisclosed personal matter. The scripts had to be re-written to account for his absence, and one episode of Season 11, which had Kinney's character written off, aired just recently.
Then, the news on budget cuts caused Chicago Fire fans to worry — would Kinney even bother to return for Season 12, and if yes, when?
While the showrunners and the actor himself haven't disclosed any information on the matter, there is no reason not to expect Kinney to return to the show. In fact, his character's exit was written in such a way as to allow him to reappear in a future season: Severide has left Firehouse 51 for a training camp, while his wife, Stella Kidd, continues to work there.
It's highly likely that, once Taylor Kinney is finished sorting out his personal problems, he will come back to Chicago Fire as Lieutenant Severide. After all, the budget cuts just mean that he might appear in fewer episodes than what used to be normal for him — but anyway, fans would be pleased to see his character at least sometimes throughout Season 12!
The next episode of Chicago Fire Season 11 will be aired on May 3, 2023.