Fans are eager to meet the latest addition to Firehouse 51.
Things are moving fast on Chicago Fire. Fans may have still been getting used to Derrick Gibson (Rome Flynn), the firefighter brought in to replace Blake Gallo (Alberto Rosende), but the character departed after just six (!) episodes. Now, we will all have to acclimate to another new firefighter.
The good news? He will be arriving soon. We’re officially on the second half of season 12, given that the Hollywood strikes shortened the usual episode count, and Chicago Fire is wasting no time setting up the next crop of firefighters and medics who will be driving storylines. The new firefighter, Jack Damon, will be played by Michael Bradway, and he will be debuting on the show on April 10.
Jack Damon will debut on the April 10th episode
NBC has not released a synopsis or promo photos for season 12, episode 10. The network didn’t even tack a promo at the end of the episode “Something About Her”, which is customary for new episodes airing within a week’s time (sometimes, even for an episode several weeks out).
It’s possible the network wants to keep the information surrounding Jack Damon a secret for as long as possible, hence the fact that we’ve been told nothing about his backstory or his connection to any of the other 51 firefighters. What we do know, however, is that Chicago Fire is hoping to keep him around for a while.
The Deadline article that broke the news stated that Michael Bradway will be listed as a recurring role at first, but there’s a good chance that he could be promoted to series regular by the time season 13 rolls around. This makes sense, given that the show was unable to keep the character of Gibson for more than a handful of episodes.
It will be Michael Bradway’s first TV role
While Dick Wolf Productions generally likes to cast actors who have been on other procedural shows in the past, Bradway is a relative newcomer to the scene. He’s never made a guest appearance on a Law & Order or FBI spinoff, and he only has a few credits to his name, according to IMDb.
He’s been in two short films, Piece (2021) and Tino (2022), as well as an upcoming romance titled Marked Men with Alexander Ludwig. With this in mind, we’re excited to see what the young actor is able to bring to the character of Damon and the franchise as a whole.
