Chicago Fire Season 12: Latest News, Release Date, Cast, and Everything Else to Know

Chicago Fire fans have been left with a lot of questions since Season 11 ended. Will Stella Kidd be able to bring Kelly Severide back to Firehouse 51? Will Sylvie Brett say yes to Matt Casey's proposal? And, maybe most importantly: Is Mouch going to die? 

No Chicago Fire finale would be complete without lots of drama, and Season 11's certainly brought it in spades. And now that the NBC drama finally has a Season 12 premiere date in the books, we're one step closer to finding out what's next for everyone at the firehouse. 

Here, we outline everything we know about Chicago Fire Season 12, including when it premieres and who is returning — or not.

More on fall TV 2023:

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• Fox's fall TV schedule
• The CW fall TV schedule

Chicago Fire Season 12 latest news

The fire station is going to be down one man. Alberto Rosende, who has played Blake Gallo for the past four seasons, is exiting the series after the Season 12 premiere, according to Deadline. The decision to leave was allegedly amicable. Kara Killmer, who plays Sylvie Brett, is also leaving in Season 12, and Taylor Kinney, who plays Kelly Severide, is returning. 

Chicago Fire Season 12 release date

Chicago Fire Season 12 premieres Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 9/8c on NBC. The One Chicago shows are targeting 13 episodes for their upcoming seasons, according to TV Line.

Following the reopening of the writers room after the writers strike was resolved in late September, Deadline reported that Andrea Newman, who was previously co-showrunner on Chicago Fire with Derek Haas, has been promoted to head showrunner now that Haas has left.

What will Chicago Fire Season 12 be about?

Severide rides again! Taylor Kinney, who plays Kelly Severide, is reportedly returning to Chicago Fire at the onset of Season 12. It's unclear how many episodes Kinney will appear in, but according to Deadline, he's expected to return as a full-time cast member.

For much of Season 11, Severide's character was missing while Kinney was on personal leave. His absence was explained on the show by Severide being at an arson investigation training program. However, his wife Stella Kidd found out that he had completed the program without telling her and still hadn't returned to Chicago. At the end of the finale, she took her own leave from the firehouse so she could go and get him to come home.

But as Kinney returns, another cast member is set to exit. Kara Killmer, who plays paramedic Sylvie Brett, is leaving Chicago Fire during Season 12, Variety reported on Nov. 16. Killmer will reportedly still appear in early episodes of the season, although it's not clear how many.

There's been no word on how Sylvie will be written out of the series, but Season 11 ended with Jesse Spencer's Matt Casey — who now lives in Portland — proposing. Is a move to Oregon in Sylvie's future? Here's everything we know about the big questions coming into Season 12:

Will Sylvie say yes?

Sylvie didn't want to do the Portland to Chicago long-distance relationship with Matt before, so if she does say yes to his proposal, all signs indicate that she's moving to Portland. Of course, the writers could throw us a curveball and find another way to write Killmer's character out of the series.

Is Matt Casey returning to Chicago?

Again, Killmer's exit could point to an answer for this one. If Sylvie accepts Matt's proposal, it's logical to assume she'll be moving to Portland and that he'll be staying there — although we don't know anything for sure. Matt left for Portland in Season 10 to take care of his late friend Andy Darden's two teenage sons. One is now off to college, and one is almost there. 

Jesse Spencer has not made any announcements about returning to the series full time, but Deadline did ask him in April if he was going to return.

"I cannot… answer that question," Spencer told Deadline. "The potential to come back would be awesome. I'm always open to that but you know, the ball isn't really in my court. I always told [series co-creator] Derek Haas that if there were episodes that he thought would be appropriate for me to come back, then I'm totally open to that because I want to see the old gang and I love working there. But in terms of me coming back full time or something, I have no idea."

Will Mouch die?

After getting hit by shrapnel in the season 11 finale, Mouch survived surgery — only to bleed out in his hospital bed while Herrmann screamed for help from Chicago Med staff. Christian Stolte, who plays Mouch, hasn't said anything about leaving the series, so for now, we'll have to wait and see what the writers room decides.  

Chicago Fire Season 12 cast

We already know that Taylor Kinney will be returning to Chicago Fire in Season 12, while Kara Killmer will leave the series. Beyond that, nothing has been confirmed. However, based on how the storylines stand at the end of Season 11, we've made predictions about which cast members will almost certainly return and which are on the bubble.

Returning Chicago Fire cast:

• David Eigenberg as Christopher Herrmann
• Eamonn Walker as Chief Wallace Boden
• Taylor Kinney as Lieutenant Kelly Severide
• Joe Minoso as Joe Cruz
• Miranda Rae Mayo as Lieutenant Stella Kidd
• Daniel Kyri as Darren Ritter
• Hanako Greensmith as Violet Mikami 
• Jake Lockett as Sam Carver

Potentially returning Chicago Fire cast:

• Christian Stolte as Randall "Mouch" McHolland

Exiting Chicago Fire cast:

• Kara Killmer as Sylvie Brett (leaving during Season 12)
• Alberto Rosende as Blake Gallo (leaving after the Season 12 premiere)

Where to watch Chicago Fire

All 11 seasons of Chicago Fire are available to stream on Peacock.