High Potential hinted at a cast exit after an apparent onscreen death — but it is now confirmed that a main character won’t be coming back.
The Tuesday, April 7, finale showed Wagner (Steve Howey) getting shot and Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) trying to save his life. His fate remained unclear but off screen the actor has been cast in upcoming seasons of Off Campus and Ransom Canyon, which hinted at a departure.
Deadline confirmed that the Season 2 finale marked the last episode as a series regular for Howey. After joining earlier this season, Howey wasn’t expected to return due to him signing a one-year deal. Wagner’s story has not been fully determined yet though and there is a chance Howey could come back as a guest star at the beginning of season 3 to wrap up his arc.
Howey previously teased his arc on the show while speaking exclusively to Us Weekly in September 2025, saying, “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 continued: “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, for his part, was thrilled at the chance to join one of his favorite shows.
“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.”
When asked about the best part of getting to play Nick Wagner, Howey joked, “The badge. I was like, ‘Does he get a badge?’ So I’m walking around like a little boy that has a new fireman’s hat on. I have the badge on my hip and I am flipping up my jacket. I’m in the mirror showing off for myself.”
Wagner’s fate will be decided by a new showrunner, who has yet to be announced. Before season 2 came to an end, news broke in March that showrunner Todd Harthan exited the show to focus on the upcoming live-action adaptation of Christopher Paolini’s 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, which premiered in September 2024, was created by Drew Goddard. The pilot was written by Goddard, who was expected to executive produce alongside Sarah Esberg, Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge, Pierre Laugier, Anthony Lancret, Jean Nainchrik and Alethea Jones.
Thomas, meanwhile, was expected to serve as the showrunner before exiting in June 2024 — months before the series premiere. Harthan was ultimately announced as the new showrunner, who also served as an executive producer.
High Potential is now streaming on Hulu.
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