Michael Easton is heading back to Port Charles, and General Hospital fans are buzzing about this big news. GH executive producer Frank Valentini broke the news on Tuesday, and fans are definitely curious to see where this heads. Fans were in an uproar last year when Easton’s most recent character, Dr. Silas Clay, was killed off and everybody is anxious for scoop regarding his return.
Valentini had been teasing a huge announcement for a few days, and fans had been buzzing about possible actor or actress returns. Which Michael Easton’s name was one of those mentioned as people speculated about the upcoming reveal, viewers did not necessarily expect this to be the news. However, social media exploded once Valentini revealed that indeed, Michael is returning to General Hospital .
— Frank Valentini (@valentinifrank) February 2, 2016
Not only did fans burst with excitement, many GH stars took to Twitter to share their joy over the news as well. General Hospital stars like Kelly Monaco, Michelle Stafford, Nancy Lee Grahn, William deVry, Rebecca Budig, Vinessa Antnoine, and Hayley Erin all tweeted about how thrilled they were, and Valentini shared all of the posts. Which of these cast members will get to work with Easton in his GH return, though? Everybody will have to wait a bit yet for details on that front.
For his part, Easton shared a bit on Facebook about his gratitude. He acknowledged the news of his General Hospital return and thanked the fans for their kindness and support, indicating that this support is what led to his Port Charles return. When Silas was killed last year, it created an uproar from Michael’s fans, and some even started petitions angling for his return. It may have taken a while, but apparently the outrage worked.
https://www.facebook.com/MichaelEastonActor/posts/10154005611394736
Now, General Hospital fans are dying to know who Michael Easton will play in this return to Port Charles. This is not his second gig with the show. Rather, it is actually his fourth, plus a role he had on the spin-off Port Charles , and fans will not be pleased if this opportunity is wasted. While the show has said little about Easton’s return gig, beyond sharing that he begins showing on-air soon, there are indications that he will play a new character, not one of the roles he tackled previously.
ABC executive Nathan Varni shared via Facebook that additional details would be revealed later in February. However, he did share one General Hospital spoiler tease in that Easton will be playing an exciting new character. That is good news for Michael’s fans, who are hoping that this is a long-term gig, not a short return as Silas’ ghost or some stunt of that nature.
Guess who is back to General Hospital! Michael Easton returns! https://t.co/AZdLQMcMQv pic.twitter.com/aguNzSI012
— SheKnows’ Soaps (@soapsdotcom) February 2, 2016
While the network may not be revealing specifics yet, GH fans are buzzing about the possibilities. As Celeb Dirty Laundry shares, the idea that Easton could be coming back to the show to play the mysterious mobster Dixon is a concrete possibility. Paul and Ava have been referencing this powerful mob titan for a while now, and the name of Dixon was mentioned for the first time just this week. So far, however, the idea of Easton as Dixon is just one possible theory floating around.
Many fans say they would love to see Michael play John McBain again, the character he played a while back on both General Hospital and One Life to Live . Unfortunately, that is said to be unlikely, as Prospect Park owns those OLTL characters. They have no reason to let this one loose, especially given the ongoing lawsuit between Prospect Park and ABC.
Not everybody is excited about the idea of Easton playing a mobster, but it sounds as if GH fans are mostly open to giving this new character a shot if the writers can give Michael something to sink his teeth into again. Are you excited to hear the news of Michael Eaton’s General Hospital return? Who would you like to see him play?
I’m thinking how stupid it was for #GH to let #MichaelEaston go @valentinifrank @nathanvarni Bring him back! pic.twitter.com/zPrv7nIflv
— Lois Troutman (@Loistroutman) January 12, 2016
Update : According to ABC Soaps in Depth, Easton will NOT be playing the character of Dixon. However, the site is not yet sharing any General Hospital spoilers regarding the new character that Michael will be portraying. Who do you think the fan-favorite actor should play when he returns soon?
[Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images]