Chris Meloni is returning to Law and Order and fans are freaking out

Will there be a reunion between Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson?

Chris Meloni is returning to Law and Order and fans are freaking out 1

Christopher Meloni is coming back to the Law & Order franchise!

Meloni is set to reprise his Law & Order: SVU role as Elliot Stabler in a new Dick Wolf crime drama series. The Law & Order: SVU spinoff, which has already received a 13-episode series order from NBC, centers on an NYPD organized crime unit led by Stabler.

Executive produced by Wolf, Arthur W. Forney and Peter Jankowski for Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television — a division of NBCUniversal Content Studios, the yet-to-be-titled series is the first project to come out of the nine-figure deal that Wolf signed with Universal Television in February. The said deal spans five years and multiple platforms, and includes multiple series commitments. Matt Olmstead, who previously served as showrunner of Chicago P.D., is reportedly being eyed to write and run the new series.

Meloni served as the male lead opposite Marista Hargitay for the first 12 seasons of Law & Order: SVU. Menloni’s Stabler and Hargitay’s Olivia Benson were best friends and partners until the former retired from the police force in Season 12. But since both shows are set in New York, there’s a great chance that a crossover of sorts will reunite the dynamic duo.

As expected, longtime Law & Order: SVU fans are excited about Meloni’s return to the franchise, with many of them taking to Twitter to express their delight about the news.

Though Meloni has yet to properly confirm his return to Wolf World, the actor seemingly corroborated the news with a simple tweet to a fan:

After leaving Law & Order SVU in 2011, Meloni starred in the critically acclaimed WGN America series Underground, Syfy series Happy!, and Fox comedy Surviving Jack. He also did amazing arcs on HBO’s True Blood and Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

Meloni’s Law & Order: SVU spinoff has no release date yet.

Source: Deadline