Why Is Steve Howey Leaving “High Potential ”as a Series Regular? Inside the Casting Shake-Up

‘High Potential’ ended on a major cliffhanger with Steve Howey’s character’s life in the balance

Steve Howey as Nick Wagner in ‘High Potential’; Steve Howey and Kaitlin Olson in ‘High Potential’.
Credit: Andrew Eccles/Disney; Raymond Liu/Disney

NEED TO KNOW

High Potential season 2 ended on a major cliffhanger

In the season finale, Steve Howey’s character, Wagner, was gravely injured

Howey will not be returning as a series regular because of his initial one-year contract

High Potential season 2 came to an end on April 7 and left one of the show’s beloved character’s fate up in the air.

In a major cliffhanger moment on the ABC comedy drama, Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) planned to meet up with Wagner (Steve Howey) for a potential lead on a case, but instead found him bleeding out with stab wounds all over his back.

“So many cliffhangers, I know,” Olson told PEOPLE after the season 2 finale. “There are so many places that we can go with this next season. It’s very exciting and it definitely starts with, does Wagner make it or not?”

Morgan tries to save him, but the viewers are not shown whether or not she’s successful when the screen cuts to black. Whether or not Wagner will survive is, in part, up to a new showrunner, who has yet to be announced. However, Olson shared that viewers should have their questions answered in season 3.

While it may come as a shock to viewers that Howey’s character was brutally injured, he had previously signed a one-year deal as a series regular ahead of the second season. Meanwhile, Howey has a busy schedule with plenty of projects in the works — including Off Campus, Ransom Canyon and The Lincoln Lawyer.

Here’s everything to know about why Steve Howey is leaving High Potential as a series regular.

Why is Steve Howey leaving High Potential as a series regular?

Steve Howey as Nick Wagner in ‘High Potential’.
Credit: Raymond Liu/Disney

Howey is departing High Potential as a series regular, because he signed a one-year deal ahead of joining the cast for season 2, according to Deadline. While he could rejoin the show in guest appearances, his full-time contract was only outlined for one season.

In June 2025, Deadline reported that Howey would be joining the cast as Nick Wagner, a new captain coming from a background in politics. Although he and Morgan had a rocky start, they bonded over their troubled pasts and even shared a kiss in an elevator.

“We wanted to have a little bit of a mystery, and we also wanted to stump Morgan,” Olson told Variety about introducing Howey’s character. “It was very important to me that she’s not always right about everything. I like that she’s a very intelligent person, and she’s also human and doesn’t know whether to trust this man. Who is he? Does he need something from her? Is he actually interested in her? So that was fun to explore and play with.”

What happened to his High Potential character?

Steve Howey as Nick Wagner in ‘High Potential’.
Credit: Raymond Liu/Disney

Throughout season 2, Wagner and Morgan are both trying to get closure from their troubled pasts. For Wagner, he’s determined to identify the people who murdered his fiancée, while Morgan is still trying to get to the bottom of the disappearance of her ex, Roman, 15 years prior.

In the final moments of season 2, Wagner and Morgan set up a meeting with corrupt political fixer Willa Quinn (Jennifer Jason Leigh). However, their plans change when Wagner tells Morgan that he’s meeting up with a source from the FBI beforehand. When Morgan arrives 30 minutes later, she finds Wagner bleeding out with stab wounds across his back.

The episode cuts to black after Morgan sees his body, so it’s unclear if he’ll survive his injuries. Regardless of what happens to Wagner, Morgan’s life is completely altered.

“Now more than ever, now that somebody that she deeply cares about got really hurt or is potentially dead, everything changed,” she told PEOPLE. “I mean, I think she just wants to put the lid back on, but it’s too late. That’s just always so much more fun to watch when things are completely off the rails, and it’s certainly more fun to play.”

Is there a chance Howey could return to the show?

Steve Howey in ‘High Potential’.
Credit: Christine Bartolucci/Disney

Since the season 2 finale ended with Wagner’s fate up in the air, there is a chance he could make cameos in the following season.

However, Wagner’s fate has not totally been decided, since the series is still figuring out who will replace showrunner Todd Harthan, who announced in March that he was leaving after two seasons. After the season 2 finale aired, Olson said that they’re still working on who will run the show and where it will go next.

“It’s definitely being discussed,” she told Variety. “Listen, this is a really big job. This is a show with multiple tones, and that’s not easy to do. I’m so particular about every single aspect of these scripts and these storylines.”

Meanwhile, when asked about whether or not viewers will get to learn what actually happened to Wagner, she said that “there is a lot on the table.”

“There are so many places that we can go,” Olson said, while adding, “We’re going to have to have some answers there pretty quickly.”

What is Howey doing after High Potential?

Steve Howey and Kaitlin Olson attend ABC’s End Of Summer Soirée on September 05, 2025 in West Hollywood, California.
Credit: Monica Schipper/Getty

While Howey won’t be reprising his role as a series regular for season 3 of High Potential, he’s still booked and busy. His upcoming projects include the romantic drama series Off Campus, the thriller movie Strobe and the comedy film Karate Ghost.

As for television, he scored the recurring role as Josh Duhamel’s character’s half-brother in season 2 of Ransom Canyon and another recurring role on season 5 of The Lincoln Lawyer.