How Suits L.A. Connects Stephen Amell’s Character to Harvey Specter

Suits L.A. creators found ways to connect the series’ characters — specifically Stephen Amell‘s Ted Black — to the beloved original series.

Amell, 43, spoke with Entertainment Weekly on Monday, December 16, about how his character has a special connection with Gabriel Macht‘s Harvey Specter from the first Suits series, saying, “You’ll notice behind my desk that there’s a picture of a young Ted Black with what can only be a young Harvey Specter so there’s clearly a history between the characters.”

NBC’s spinoff made an effort to keep Suits L.A. in the same universe.

“We came up together in the D.A.’s office. So if I was going to have anyone [from the original cast] come back, I would want it to be Gabriel,” Amell told EW. “I would really hope that that happens, because I am very much a fan of his character and I think that that dynamic would be something that the viewers would really enjoy.”

Amell said Macht, 52, was the Suits alum he wanted to see make a guest appearance on the reboot/new show, just one month after rumors started to swirl about Harvey’s return. Macht hinted at his return when he shared an Instagram post in November showing off his outfit, which featured a shirt with the initials “H.S.” stitched in and shoes that had the name “Harvey” in the soles.

“When an old friend is in need,” he captioned the post. “It’s time to take care of things and make those very ‘things’ right.”

Set in a fictional New York City corporate law firm, the original Suits followed associate lawyer Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), who started working with Harvey Specter. The legal drama, which ran from 2011 to 2019, focused on Harvey and Mike winning lawsuits and closing cases while simultaneously hiding Mike’s secret.

The show had a resurgence in popularity in 2023 when it was added to Netflix and Peacock. As a result, NBC developed a spinoff starring Amell, Josh McDermitt, Lex Scott Davis and Bryan Greenberg.

“We want to play the hits. We want to have a lot of fun,” Amell told EW. “We are only sitting in Black Lane Law group conference room at the moment right now because of Gabriel and Patrick [J. Adams] and Sarah [Rafferty] and Meghan [Markle] and Rick [Hoffman] and all of the people that comprised the original Suits cast. So all of them are welcome.”

Amell made it clear that the door is open for more cameos, adding, “I’m not the one that invites them, but as far as I’m concerned, all of them are welcome. … We’re going to do our own thing, and that’s OK. We do things on this show that they couldn’t do on the original.”

Suits: L.A. premieres on NBC February 23 at 9 p.m. ET