Other spinoffs have tried casting NCIS‘ most lethal villain, actor Rudolf Martin reveals. Being on the air for more than two decades, NCIS has come up with some cruel bad guys, the majority of them were eventually taken down at the end of every episode by the Major Case Response Team (MCRT). Some, however, were given multi-episode arcs leading to special finales or crossover events. In NCIS‘ 1000th episode, the show even revisited its very first bad guy. Out of all the villains that were pitted against MCRT throughout the years, one stands out.

Joining Michel Weatherly and Cote de Pablo’s Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch podcast is Martin, where they talk about Ari Haswari’s role and legacy in the franchise. According to the actor, even after he was killed in NCIS season 2, episode 2, “Kill Ari Part 2,” other shows from the same CBS franchise have attempted to recruit him. However, he has always turned them down because he doesn’t think there’s really a point to it. Read his full quote below:

I sometimes get like audition requests for the NCIS spinoffs and we always have to say no because we know they are gonna say no anyways, so I don’t want to send in anything.

Why Ari Is NCIS’ Best Villain

Ari Kept Gibbs On His Toes The Whole Time

Ari was introduced in NCIS season 1, episode 16, “Bête Noire,” where he infiltrated Ducky Mallard’s lab and took him hostage. Eventually, Kate Todd came in and struck an unusual dynamic with a then-unnamed villain. For the next few episodes, Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs became obsessed with finding him, especially since he didn’t appear in any database that was available for NCIS’ use. His worst crime was killing Kate with a single sniper shot. Ari’s reign of terror ended when he was killed by his own half-sister, Ziva David, upon realizing that he’d gone rogue.

Ziva replaced Kate in MCRT, and NCIS moved on. But after almost two decades and countless cases coming across the bullpen in Navy Yard, no one has wreaked more havoc than Ari. For starters, he’s the only NCIS villain who successfully killed an MCRT member, and worse, in front of Gibbs and Tony Dinozzo. Beyond that, the show executed his story so effectively. It didn’t feel tired even though the arc ran across three seasons. Finally, Ari was one step ahead of Gibbs throughout the whole ordeal, which was rare. If it wasn’t for Ziva, Gibbs might have been dead.

With NCIS season 22 already confirmed, perhaps the people behind the show can mine inspiration from the excellent arc of Ari during the earliest years of the police procedural. Instead of weekly villains, the show can raise the stakes by bringing in someone formidable enough to get MCRT on full alert. It could also be the case that fully solidifies Alden Parker as the new leader of the team.

Source: Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch