It's Always Sunny Star Says Dennis Might Be 'Gone Forever'

The future looks stormy for this It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia character. 

Actor Glenn Howerton, who plays the vain and delusional co-owner of Paddy's Pub Dennis Reynolds, took to Twitter to paint a foggy forecast for his character. "Dennis could be gone forever," he wrote. 

Howerton began the discussion on Saturday (January 27) following recent news reports that claimed he confirmed both he and Dennis would return to It's Always Sunny. Some accounts noted that if Howerton made a comeback, he would be juggling responsibilities with his starring role on the NBC sitcom A.P. Bio — something that, according to the actor, isn't true, as the projects are mutually exclusive. 

"I don't know why people are putting out articles saying that I confirmed that Dennis is coming back. I never said that. What I said is that it is possible that he'll come back," Howerton typed out in a series of tweets. "What I also said is that whether Dennis comes back or not has nothing to do with A.P. Bio. They are two separate projects. It is a creative decision that Rob [McElhenney, who plays Ronald "Mac" McDonald], Charlie [Day, who plays Charlie Kelly], and I have to make once the writing process starts, which it hasn't yet."

The actor continued, writing that "telling you whether or not Dennis is coming back would be giving away the plot of the next season." Howerton then stated, with complete transparency, that he doesn't know whether the character will return. "To clarify once and for all: I don't know if Dennis is coming back. He left the bar. We take that plot choice seriously," he tweeted. "I don't know why the narrative continues to be centered around whether 'I'm' coming back. I'm here. It's whether or not 'Dennis' is coming back. Dennis could be gone forever."

Howerton went on to squash any suggestion that A.P. Bio is interfering with his involvement in It's Always Sunny. "Please don't think that A.P. Bio is taking me away from Sunny. It isn't," he wrote. "That's like saying that Jumanji is taking The Rock away from Fast and Furious. They are different projects."

Uncertainy surrounding Howerton's ties to It's Always Sunny came about in March of 2017, when the series' season 12 finale saw Dennis ditch his Paddy's Pub pals (McElhenney's Mac, Day's Charlie, Kaitlin Olson's Dee Reynolds, and Danny DeVito's Frank Reynolds) and head for North Dakota, where his secret life and secret child awaited him. The situation grew even more complicated when Howerton was cast in A.P. Bio, which is set to air on NBC on February 1. 

By all accounts, and contrary to what outlets have been announcing lately, Dennis' possible return to the beloved series is anything but set in stone.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is expected to return sometime in 2019.