Neil Patrick Harris made a surprise return to his Himym character Barney Stinson in the Season 2 premiere of Hulu’s How I Met Your Father, and it appears he will play a pivotal role in the spinoff series.

In the final beats of the episode titled “Cool and Chill,” the timeline shifts to a year after the events earlier in the episode. Sophie leaves her mom Lori (Paget Brewster) a hysterical voicemail saying she thinks she is dating her father before suddenly crashing into a luxury SUV. When the driver’s side door opens, the victim is revealed to be Barney. He shrugs and tells Sophie, “Dude!” just as the bumper falls off the Audi onto the sidewalk.

When future Sophie (Kim Cattrall) is asked by her son who that guy is she replies, “We’ll get there soon enough.”

Harris played Barney for nine seasons of Himym. After first...