Neil Patrick Harris Returns as 'Barney Stinson' in HOW I MET YOUR FATHER

Neil Patrick Harris is returning as his How I Met Your Mother character "Barney Stinson" in season two of How I Met Your Father.

Deadline reports that Harris will seemingly play a pivotal role in the spinoff's second season. At the end of the episode, Sophie (Hillary Duff) leaves her mother (Paget Brewster) a voicemail thinking that she is dating her father. While sending the frantic message, she crashes into a luxury vehicle. The victim of the car crash is revealed to be Harris' Barney.

Series creators Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger have teased that Harris will be around for more episodes. However, they kept quiet in what role he may play in the show's plot.

Harris originally played Barney in nine seasons of How I Met Your Mother. New episodes of How I Met Your Father premiere Tuesdays on Hulu.

Neil Patrick Harris was most recently seen on stage as the Baker in Into the Woods at Encores! City Center. He originated the role of Hedwig in the Broadway production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Tony, Drama League, and Drama Desk Awards). His other Sondheim work includes Assassins (Studio 54), Company (New York Philharmonic), Sweeney Todd (NY Phil, San Francisco Symphony), and Evening Primrose (Album, 2001).

Other theater credits: Proof (Walter Kerr Theatre), Cabaret (Studio 54), All My Sons (Geffen Theater), Tick, Tick...BOOM! (Menier Chocolate Factory), Romeo and Juliet (Old Globe Theater), and Rent (La Jolla/Los Angeles). Recent onscreen gigs: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Matrix 4, and It's A Sin for HBO Max and Britain's Channel 4.

Harris won four Emmy Awards as host of the Tony Awards (and a fifth for Glee!). He was Count Olaf in A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix, Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother on CBS, Doogie Howser, M.D. on VHS, and Dr. Horrible online.

Photo: Patrick Wymore/Hulu