‘Dexter: New Blood’ Release Date, Cast and More Details to Know

Dexter: New Blood is right around the corner, and for all the mysteries the show holds in store, there are some basic fan questions that are easy to answer. If you’re wondering which cast members are returning, when the show will be set or simply when you can watch it, read on.

News on Dexter Season 9 — formally titled Dexter: New Blood — has been trickling out since October of 2020. There have been several big press releases and presentations, as well as some major set leaks that have stirred the fandom into a frenzy. Expectations of this new series are extremely high since Dexter itself had one of the most controversial endings in all of TV history. Fortunately, New Blood will be helmed by original showrunner Clyde Phillips, and it will be a 10-episode limited series, meaning it will not go on indefinitely.

Dexter is based on a series of novels by Jeff Lindsay, the first of which is titled Darkly Dreaming Dexter. It then evolved independently from the storyline in Lindsay’s books, so those offer few hints about what is to come.

More than a few fans have been describing their binge re-watches of Dexter since the revival was announced, so attention to detail will be key on this series. Some are also watching the series for the first time, indoctrinating a whole new swath of fans into the dark world. Dexter is streaming on Showtime, which is available on its own or as an add-on for other streaming services. You can get a free trial for Showtime here.

It will still be a few weeks before the Dexter revival makes it to our TVs, but fans are already meticulously poring over the details they have available. Here is what we know about the Dexter reboot so far.

Production and Release Date

The Dexter revival is scheduled to premiere on Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021 on Showtime. It filmed throughout the first half of the year with relatively few interruptions considering the climate of the industry, and some set photos leaked from Massachusetts and other locations. At Comic-Con, Showtime confirmed that the new season will be subtitled Dexter: New Blood.

Trailer

A trailer for Dexter: New Blood premiered at Comic-Con as well, giving fans some indication of where and when the story will pick up without giving away many details. Of course, nothing can stop Dexter fans from theorizing based on every little clue they’ve seen.

Time-Jump

It now seems relatively clear that the Dexter revival will be set 10 years after the end of the original series. Phillips was initially hesitant to be specific with this time line, telling The Hollywood Reporter: “We basically do get to start from scratch… Ten years, or however many years have passed by the time this will air, and the show will reflect that time passage.”

The outlet then obtained an official synopsis from Showtime, which read: “Set 10 years after Dexter Morgan went missing in the eye of Hurricane Laura, the revival sees the character now living under an assumed name in a world away from Miami.”

Location

It is less clear where the Dexter revival will take place. Many fans assumed that the show would pick up with Dexter Morgan living as a lumberjack in Oregon, as he was at the very end of the original series. However, Phillips told TV Insider that the reboot will begin with him “somewhere we’ve never seen him before.”

Phillips could be referring to Oregon, although technically fans have seen him there before. However, at this point that might be splitting hairs. Phillips hinted that fans should be able to see the storyline coming, saying: “We’re moving forward to an ending that will be, as Chekhov said, surprising but inevitable.”

Murder

In that same interview, Phillips confirmed that there will be some murders to account for in the Dexter reboot, in case anyone had any doubt. The serial killer did his best to pursue a peaceful, moralistic life, but Phillips does not believe this is sustainable for his protagonist.

“Dexter always has what we call ‘the dark passenger’ living inside him,” Phillips said. “He is more grounded than he’s ever been, but that dark passenger is a voice he cannot deny. This is Dexter. People are going to die.”

Continuity

Dexter had one of the most controversial series finales in TV history, but Phillips assured THR that he is not undoing that ending. In an interview on the outlet’s TV’s Top 5 podcast, he said: “This is an opportunity to make that right, but that’s not why we’re doing it. We’re doing this because there is such a hunger for Dexter out there. We’re not undoing anything. We’re not doing movie-magic. We’re not going to betray the audience and say, ‘Whoops, that was all a dream.’ What happened in the first eight years happened in the first eight years.”

Connections

Phillips did send some mixed messages on how the revival will be connected to the previous seasons. He wants the new series to stand apart, without feeling completely disconnected from the original. He said: “We basically do get to start from scratch. We want this to not be Dexter Season 9.”

“In so far as the ending of the show, this will have no resemblance to how the original finale was,” Phillips went on. “It’s a great opportunity to write a second finale for our show, and Showtime was very gracious about that.”

Hall’s Input

So far, the press releases have indicated that Hall himself will have some creative input on the direction this new series is taking. Showtime’s co-president of entertainment, Gary Levine, said: “We would only revisit this unique character if we could find a creative take that was truly worthy of the brilliant, original series. Well, I am happy to report that [showrunner] Clyde Phillips and Michael C. Hall have found it, and we can’t wait to shoot it and show it to the world.”

Hall himself seemed to indicate vaguely that he disliked the ending of the original series during a Reddit AMA with fans, writing that his overall feeling about where his character ended up was “probably sadness.” Additionally, Phillips acknowledged that he knew Hall “was not completely satisfied with” the ending during his THR interview.

Phillips’ Original Ending Plan

As for Phillips, he left Dexter about halfway through its run, which is when many fans began to complain about the show’s direction. He made that decision himself in order to spend more time with his family, but in a 2013 interview with E!, he explained how he would have ended the series if he had still been the showrunner at the time.

“In the very last scene of the series, Dexter wakes up,” he said. “And everybody is going to think, ‘Oh, it was a dream.’ And then the camera pulls back and back and back and then we realise, ‘No, it’s not a dream.’ Dexter’s opening his eyes and he’s on the execution table at the Florida Penitentiary. They’re just starting to administer the drugs and he looks out through the window to the observation gallery.”

“And in the gallery are all the people that Dexter killed – including the Trinity Killer and the Ice Truck Killer (his brother Rudy), LaGuerta who he was responsible for killing, Doakes, who he’s arguably responsible for, Rita, who he’s arguably responsible for, Lila,” he went on. “All the big deaths, and also whoever the weekly episodic kills were. They are all there.”

While that ending is not canonical, it gives some hint about where Phillips’ mind is at when he considers an ending to Dexter. It may influence the series itself when it comes out. The new Dexter limited series premieres on Sunday, Nov. 7 on Showtime. Disclosure: PopCulture is owned by ViacomCBS Streaming, a division of ViacomCBS.