Christopher Meloni’s Stabler Officially Returns In First Set Photos For Law & Order: SVU Season 28

Image via MovieStillsDB Published Sep 23, 2026, 8:26 AM EDT Nick Bythrow is a Lead Writer for ScreenRant. He has been writing for the site since September 2022. He graduated from Hampshire College in 2022, where he triple majored in Journalism, Communications, and Media Studies. When he's not writing about TV and movies for ScreenRant and his blog, Frayed Branches, Nick is penning speculative fiction and poetry on Amazon. He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Christopher Meloni's Stabler officially returns. The actor's upcoming reprisal has been revealed in the first set photos for Law & Order: SVU season 28. The upcoming season of the procedural crime drama is set to begin on October 8, 2026, with the series' core team at the forefront. However, the show has also featured Stabler in a recurring or guest capacity every season since season 22. For Law & Order: SVU season 28, it's not too surprising to learn that he'll be reuniting with Benson, seemingly for a very important case based on the information now available. Series star Mariska Hargitay shared photos of Meloni on Instagram, revealing he'll be coming back in Law & Order: SVU season 28. In the first photo, she can be seen pointing at Meloni while standing behind him, his back turned to the camera. In the second photo, her and Meloni smile for the camera, seemingly still on set and still dressed as Benson and Stabler. The caption for her second photo also hints his return coincides with the show's fast-approaching 600th episode. Check out Hargitay's images below: Stabler's upcoming return to the cast of Law & Order: SVU follows the end of Law & Order: Organized Crime, which was officially cancelled in April 2026 following low ratings on both NBC and Peacock during season 5. It was unclear what the series' cancellation would mean for Stabler in the procedural universe. Luckily, it appears he'll still have a vital part to play in the forthcoming season of SVU, seemingly to coincide with the milestone episode. The exact case he'll be working with Benson remains to be seen. The last time Stabler appeared on the show was during the beginning of Law & Order: SVU season 27, when he and Benson met during Donald Cragen's funeral. Benson and Stabler shared a moment that could be interpreted as romantic, part of the ever-ongoing potential for the pair to become romantically involved with one another. However, they haven't appeared onscreen together since. While this opens up a realm of possibilities for what the pair will be doing next, it also signals there may be more than meets the eye to their upcoming collaboration. More to come...