One of the final Law & Order detectives might be returning to the franchise.
Anthony Anderson shares in a new interview that he could reprise his role as Detective Kevin Bernard in the revival of the mothership Law & Order series.
Anderson might be just the first of several past characters returning for the show’s 21st season.
Who is Kevin Bernard?
Anthony Anderson had appeared in the Season 7 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode Fat. He played Detective Lucas Blaine, who was temporarily assigned to work with Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) on a tough case.
Known for a brash ego and going overboard on cases, Blaine and Stabler clashed. Cragen revealed he’d picked Blaine so Stabler could know “what it’s like to work with you.”
In the last episodes of Season 18 of the mothership Law & Order series, Anderson took on the role of Detective Kevin Bernard. Joe Green (Jesse L. Martin) had been implicated in a shooting with Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) partnering with Bernard to clear Green’s name. Green chose to leave the NYPD with Bernard becoming Lupo’s new partner.
Growing up in Compton, Bernard had a son who was unaware Bernard was his real father. He and Lupo handled cases well, with Bernard showing a slick wit and good insight while being more a cool cop.
Bernard and Lupo were the final detectives on Law & Order when the series was unexpectedly canceled after its 20th season in 2010.
Could Anderson lead to other Law & Order actors returning?
Since Law & Order ended, Anderson has been busy with several movies and projects. His biggest success has been the long-running ABC sitcom Black-ish which he both produced and stars in.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight about the final season of Black-ish, Anderson confirmed he has been in discussions about returning to the role of Bernard.
“I did have a conversation with Dick Wolf about them bringing back Law & Order for the 21st season and, like I said, anything is possible,”
Fans have been excited since the news last week that NBC would revive the original Law & Order for a 21st season next year.
Wolf spoke to Variety on how the revival won’t stray from what made the original so successful.
“This will be Season 21, so it’s the same ‘Law & Order’ everyone knows from the first 20 years. So there’s really nothing to fix, we just want to continue telling great stories. Casting as always will be three cops and three D.A.s,” he explained.
The revival appears to be NBC’s attempt to create an all-Law & Order night on Thursdays. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Organized Crime were to be followed by the new Law & Order: For The Defense. However, NBC halted development on that spin-off in July.
Anderson would be able to return as filming for the final season of Black-ish has already wrapped. Sisto (along with Alana de la Garza) is busy starring on FBI, and thus unlikely he would reprise the role of Lupo.
So far, there is no confirmation of any other original cast members returning, but Anderson could lead the way for some other classic Law & Order characters to make this revival a true continuation of the classic series.
Law & Order Seasons 1-20 streaming on Peacock.