‘Dexter’ Star Michael C. Hall Reveals How Controversial Finale Inspired Revival

Dexter star Michael C. Hall recently spoke out about the show’s controversial finale, revealing how it inspired the upcoming series revival. PopCulture.com’s sister site, ComicBook.com reports that Hall addressed the series finale while virtually appearing in a Comic-Con @Home panel for the new season. The actor explained that the mostly negative reaction to the show’s finale episode was “a huge part” of why he and the Dexter creators came back to breathe new life into the character.

“I think the ending was mystifying at best to people, confounding, exasperating, frustrating, on down the line of negative adjectives,” Hall said during the panel. “I think this is a show that’s very important to all of us and the chance to revisit it and maybe in the process, redefine the sense of the show’s ending and the sense of the show’s legacy more broadly was certainly a part of our motivation. No doubt.” The forthcoming 10-episode revival is titled Dexter: New Blood, and it will debut on Nov. 7.

The Dexter revival will pick up about a decade after the original series finale, which aired in 2013. Dexter is now living in the fictional small town of Iron Lake, which is located in Upstate New York. In addition to Hall, the new season will also star Jennifer Carpenter, who played Dexter’s sister Debra in the show’s original run.

New cast members this time around include Clancy Brown (Billions) as Dexter’s primary rival Kurt Caldwell, the unofficial mayor of Iron Lake. Jamie Chung (Lovecraft Country), Julia Jones (Goliath), and Alano Miller (Jane the Virgin) will also star. Aside from Carpenter, it does not appear that any other former Dexter stars will be returning for the revival, as claimed by ex-Dexter actor James Remar.

Hall previously opened up about the forthcoming new season of Dexter and seemed to imply that more episodes could be approved in the future. Speaking to NME, Hall talked about the revival and was asked if this will mark the end of the franchise. “I’m reluctant to say ‘definitely’, you know? Let’s see,” he replied. “What’s plain now is that there’s 10 new episodes.”

Hall also offered some thoughts on how it has felt to step back into the role eight years after the original run ended. “I don’t really know what to expect, as I’ve never returned to a job after so much time. Having Dexter in a completely different context, we’ll see how that feels,” he said. “It’s been interesting to figure out how to do that and I thought it was time to find out what the hell happened to him. The new season of Dexter does not currently have an announced premiere date but is expected to debut on Showtime this year.

Disclaimer: PopCulture is owned by ViacomCBS Streaming, a division of ViacomCBS.