Law & Order: SVU Season 28 is set to bring back a fan-favorite character, and this time he may be around more often. Michele Fazekas said in comments to TVLine that viewers should expect to see more of Ice-T, who plays Odafin Tutuola on the long-running NBC drama.
“I think we’ll have Ice-T more,” Fazekas said, signaling a larger role for one of the show’s most familiar faces as the next chapter gets underway. NBC officially renewed the series last month, keeping Olivia Benson and the Special Victims Unit team on the schedule for another season.
The update matters because SVU remains one of NBC’s most durable performers, with a strong showing in ratings and streaming. It has been on the air since 1999, building on the original Law & Order, which debuted in 1990, and it has stayed relevant long after many other network dramas faded. Mariska Hargitay is expected to return as Olivia Benson, while the franchise’s wider ensemble includes Christopher Meloni as Elliot Stabler, Dann Florek as Donald Cragen, Richard Belzer as John Munch and Kelli Giddish as Amanda Rollins.
There is, however, one detail fans still do not have: Law & Order: SVU Season 28 does not yet have an official release date. That leaves the cast news as the clearest sign yet of what the next season is trying to do — lean into familiar characters and give more screen time to a figure viewers already know well.
The series also sits within a franchise that has continued to expand, with Law & Order: Organized Crime already running for five seasons. For now, the message from Season 28 is straightforward: the show is returning to its core, and Ice-T appears to be getting a bigger place in it.
