Let's Talk About the New Spin-Off, Dexter: Resurrection - Starring Michael C. Hall

Dexter: Resurrection was just announced, and we definitely have to discuss it!

What a night. The first Dexter: Original Sin SDCC (San Diego Comic Con) panel was packed full of exciting developments and announcements! However, most of them pale in comparison to the news that Michael C. Hall would be returning to the role of Dexter in a new series called Dexter: Resurrection! Needless to say, we are still reeling from the news but more importantly, we are left with a LOT of questions! So let's start with what we DO know (or at least what we THINK we know):

• Dexter Resurrection will star Michael C. Hall in the lead role once again.
• Clyde Phillips will once again return as Showrunner and Executive Producer alongside Executive Producer, Scott Reynolds.
• Marcos Siega will return as Director.
• The show will serve as a direct follow-up to Dexter: New Blood but we do not yet know the exact context or approach they are taking.
• This is essentially serving as New Blood season 2 which was greenlit in February of 2023
• Clyde Phillips revealed that production of the show begins in January and Paramount+ has confirmed the show is planned to debut in Summer of 2025.
• In an interview with Variety, Michael C. Hall hinted that the cold will play a role in how he manages to survive the events of the New Blood finale.
• They have not ruled out the possibility of this new series running for multiple seasons.

Whether you liked the ending of Dexter: New Blood or not, it appears that fans are pleased to know that Michael C. Hall hasn't stepped away from the role entirely after all. So with that in mind, let's take a moment to theorize and talk about what this means for the franchise as a whole.

The Elephant in the Room

Obviously, the biggest question we all have following this announcement is this: How (in the hell) is Dexter still alive following the events of New Blood? While New Blood was a huge success for the network (and for the series), the ending was undeniably controversial and it certainly feels like this show is designed to address the backlash in some form and take another stab at giving the character an ending that everyone can get behind. But the question remains, how do they pull it off? The fact that production is mere months away, it would seem that they already have it figured out.

In the previously mentioned interview with Variety, Michael C. Hall strongly hinted that the cold weather in Iron Lake will play a role in explaining his survival. If you ask me, the cold could slow the flow of blood and expand the winddow of time for first-responders to save his life. With that said, I think there will be other aspects of that moment that will play a role in his survival which I will expand upon shortly. Needless to say, the writers have clearly settled on an approach and they are ready to dig back in and take another shot at the ending.

The decision to move forward with this is really rather shocking and they have their work cut out for them. With that said, I think it's important to remember that the creative minds behind the show's most popular stories, seasons, episodes etc are still at the helm here. Clyde Phillips is often credited with making those first four seasons some of the best on television and Scott Reynolds wrote New Blood episode 9, "The Family Business" (among many others), which many view as one of the best episodes of the entire series. These are the same folks who gave us the Ice Truck Killer, Doakes, Miguel Prado, the Trinity Killer, Kurt Caldwell, etc. I think it's fair to say that they should be given the benefit of the doubt rather than assuming the worst if you happened to disapprove of New Blood's ending.

Conflicted but Excited

Personally, while a little rushed, I remain wholeheartedly in support of the ending because I think it brought the character full-circle and gave his arc a worthy and satisfying conclusion. So with that in mind, I find myself very concerned that they are about squander their own efforts (New Blood) in an attempt to appease a very vocal portion of the fanbase. Quite frankly, it's unprecedented.

Needless to say, I have my concerns that they might uninentionally diminish (or even undo) all of the hard work they did with New Blood to fix the show's original ending and in effect, the show's legacy. Regardless of what a lot of fans seem to think, New Blood was a critical success that succeeded in that effort. Personally, I find the thought of undermining it's existence to be a frightening thought.

On the other hand, I am of course thrilled at the thought of Michael C. Hall returning to the role. Given the landscape of the franchise at the end of New Blood, I am cautiously optimistic about continuing the story. Their focus now should be on writing themselves out of the corner they put themselves in and driving the character towards a new ending that is rewarding (and hopefully less controversial) for fans. If they can somehow do that without undermining New Blood, even better.

The challenge at hand

In all honesty, pulling off this "resurrection" without cheapening the ending of New Blood or feeling like a knee-jerk response to angry fans is going to be TOUGH. With that said, if they can get over that initial hump gracefully (and nail the pilot episode), they have a wealth of potential to work with. Perhaps most notably, this opens them up to the possibility of delivering on several moments and storylines that fans have been practically begging for since early in the original run.

Could we finally get the showdown we have all be waiting For?

If his life is saved, he is most certainly going to end up in custody and we may finally get a show about what would happen if Dexter is exposed to the world as a serial killer; More specifically, we could get the long awaited confrontation with Batista (possibly in conjunction with Angela) and maybe even see how this revelation ripples out and effects other classic characters like Astor / Cody, Quinn, Masuka, etc.

A lot of the anger that resulted from New Blood's ending was the result of the writers failing to deliver on the Batista confrontation despite teasing it at several points throughout the season. This is their chance to make good on that promise and give fans something they have been craving for over a decade.

Tying it All Together

If you will indulge my conspiracy theorist side a bit, I could even see this being an opportunity to thread all of the series together. Now that we know Michael C. Hall will also be returning to do the inner monologue for Original Sin I can't help but wonder if this new series is at least partially framed as a police interview between Dexter and Batista and Original Sin is actually Dexter recounting his upbringing to Batista while in custody.

It sounds crazy, but I have been desperately trying to figure out how they would explain adult Dexter's voice inside young Dexter's head. The only answer I keep coming back to is that Original Sin is going to be framed as if Dexter is telling someone his story. I mean... it can't possibly just be to capitalize on Michael C. Hall's popularity right? RIGHT?!

Will Jack Alcott and Jennifer Carpenter Return?

Regardless of how you might feel about New Blood's ending, the show did an admirable job of building Harrison as a character and exploring how he was affected by the actions of his father. By continuing Dexter's story now, they would have to address the impact his surival would have on his son. The last we saw of him, he was driving off into the sunset while seemingly at peace with his own darkness. How he fits into the story now is anybody's guess but he's too important of a character to set aside at this point.

The other big question mark is the return of Jennifer Carpenter as Deb. At the end of New Blood, we see Deb's visage letting go of Dexter's hand as he lay bleeding to death in the snow. Given the circumstances in that moment, this scene carried with it a lot of symbolism so the decision to continue the story now would risk tarnishing that moment. Of course, Dexter is Dexter so he will most certainly still have his dark passenger in this new series. At this point, I feel like it would be weird to pivot back to Harry (especially now that there are two actors who have played the role) so it only makes sense to me that Deb would continue to serve this purpose.

While there has been zero casting announcements outside of Michael C. Hall, the answers to these questions will most certainly come quickly once we start to learn more about the project. With that said, it's kind of impossible to picture a season of Dexter starring Michael C. Hall where he is not acting alongside Jennifer Carpenter.

How is Dexter going to continue being Dexter

Going back to my original point, a continuation of the story almostly certainly steers the narrative in a direction that fans have longed for: Dexter on the run. To me, this sounds like just the kind of thing a new series would need to justify it's own existence but at the same time, it begs the question: How can Dexter be Dexter if he's in custody or on the run from the police?

Taking one more step back, what is Dexter's motivation at this point? His decision at the end of New Blood was to stop running and to free his son from the effects of his violent nature. Is he going to chuck that outlook out the window now that he survived - once again cheapening one of the most important moments of the entire series - or is going to find new reasons to justify his killing? Does he find out that Harrison is in danger and decide to break out of police custody to help him? Does the whole season take place inside a Prison? Is he on trial? For the life of me, I can't think of what the driving force of the series will be but it will most certainly not be business as usual for Dexter Morgan and that is exciting in itself.

Here is how I think it might go down

One way or another, I think Dexter's survival in the aftermath of New Blood needs to be unintentional on his part. There are a few obvious answers as to how this might unfold but the one option that I think tracks and doesn't completely throw away the significance of the original ending is this:

Harrison, in an effort to prove to himself and the world that he's not like his father, INTENTIONALLY misses Dexter's heart in the hopes that he will be saved and then forced to pay for his crimes.

Considering what we know about Harrison - he's a smart kid with a good heart and strong sense of justice (and a good shot to boot) - this would firm up the differences between the two characters and, as the ending intended, break him free of the "Sins of the Father."

On the flip side, Dexter would awaken with the realization that he is now going to be forced to do the one thing he has always feared: face justice for the crimes that he committed. They could even go one step further and have him wake from a coma several years later. To me this seems like a possibility because he would probably awaken in the prison ward of a hospital which would give him his best opening to escape custody. After he's out, I imagine he would try to track down Harrison while being on the run from the law.

Exciting Times

At the end of the day, I think most fans are excited to see Michael C. Hall returning to the role. I certainly didn't expect this to happen and I am vibrating with excitment (maybe that's the coffee?) and nervousness. With the filming timeline already confirmed, answers and additional announcements are certainly going to start rolling out in the not too distant future. Furthermore, we could all be sitting down to watch the first episodes of this new show (whatever it is) roughly one year from now and that is incredibly exciting.

Of course, these are just my thoughts and assessments based on a very limited set of information so if you have different theories or ideas about what to expect from Resurrection, please be sure to share it in the comments down below!