Steve Howey is departing from High Potential, leaving fans wondering if his character, Captain Wagner, met his end before season 3.
In the dramatic season 2 finale, Wagner (played by Howey) was shot and left critically wounded as emergency services were summoned. The uncertainty of his survival lingered until it was announced that Howey, 48, would not be returning to the popular ABC series. (His commitments to future seasons of Off Campus and Ransom Canyon suggest he might be written out of the series.)
Deadline confirmed that the season 2 finale was Howey’s last appearance as a regular cast member. His departure was anticipated, as he had only signed a one-year contract.
While Wagner’s storyline is yet to be fully resolved, there remains a possibility that Howey could return as a guest star at the start of season 3 to conclude his character’s journey.
In an exclusive September 2025 interview with Us Weekly, Howey hinted at his character’s development, stating, “Nick comes in and does ruffle some feathers. But his motives and his intentions are not to do that. He wants to help and we start seeing that in different episodes.”
He elaborated, “That was my fear and my concern. When you have such a lightning in the bottle strong dynamic of these characters, throwing in another character can potentially thrown that off. I’m still working on not doing that. This is going to evolve into something really cool. We don’t know about the chemistry with Nick and Morgan. Obviously there is [something]. But as he’s incrementally gaining more trust with the department, hopefully it gets better and better.”
Howey expressed his excitement about joining one of his favorite shows.
All good things must come to an end, even when it comes to TV. Over the years, many television stars have suddenly left their roles — while others have been cut from a series without much notice. Anna Faris announced in September 2020 that she was leaving CBS’ Mom after starring as the lead character […]
“The first season was amazing. It is not your usual procedure. I love the insert shots and I love their style. But I have friends in real life that are police officers and are part of the sheriff’s department. So I talked to them and they definitely made fun of me because that’s what they do,” he told Us. “I’m taking my own leeway a little bit about who this guy is and that comes from the writers about who his family is and how they were in law enforcement and now in politics. So he has something to prove to the department and to himself. So it’s fun to work on it and see what comes out of it.”
The decision about Wagner’s future on the show will be made after a new showrunner is found. News broke in March that showrunner Todd Harthan exited the show to focus on the upcoming live-action adaptation of Christopher Paolini’s young adult [YA] book series The Inheritance Cycle. The adaptation — titled Eragon — is cocreated with Paolini and Harthan will serve as coshowrunner alongside Todd Helbing.
High Potential, meanwhile, has been renewed for a third season. All episodes are currently streaming on Hulu.
