As The Young and the Restless moves into the new year, the show is bringing back one of its darkest storylines. A danger linked to Mariah Copeland’s painful past is about to return. This familiar threat is not yet done with Genoa City. The return brings renewed tension, unanswered questions, and a villain many viewers hoped they’d seen the last of.
Ray Wise’s Ian Ward poised to return on January 2 in The Young and the Restless
Ian Ward, played by Daytime Emmy winner Ray Wise, is set to return in the Friday, Jan. 2 episode. The Young and the Restless revisits the dark secret Mariah Copeland has been hiding for years. The story, left unfinished in 2025, dives back into the emotional damage Ian caused her. His return shows Mariah’s healing is not over yet.
Ray Wise has worked in television and film for decades. He began his career on the daytime soap Love of Life. He later gained fame in shows like Twin Peaks, 24, and Reaper, along with films such as RoboCop and Swamp Thing. When he joined Y&R in 2014 as Ian Ward, he brought one of the show’s most chilling villains to life. Ian oversaw the dangerous New World Cult before exiting the series in 2016.
Wise won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2015 for Outstanding Guest Appearance. He shared the win with Donna Mills from General Hospital and Fred Willard from The Bold and the Beautiful. Fans saw another shocking turn in November 2024 when Ian returned. He teamed up with Jordan Howard to target the Newman family.
In January 2025, Victor Newman shot Ian, and the show made it seem like he was dead. That did not last long. Viewers later saw Ian open his eyes inside an ambulance. Talking to Soap Opera Digest, Wise said he was glad the writers left the door open for Ian’s return. Ian last appeared in October 2025 in a very different way. He did not return as a real threat. Instead, he appeared in Mariah’s mind during her stay at a mental health facility. Talking about it, Camryn Grimes said, “He’s so good at being bad… sort of this iconic bad guy on the canvas.” (via Soap Opera Digest)
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