‘Dexter’ Season 9 First Look Teaser Trailer Hints Return to ‘Nature’

Showtime released the first teaser for Dexter Season 9, which will air eight years after the show’s original run. The brief teaser shows only a single shot of an ax in a tree stump, with a fire burning behind a stone wall. It includes a monologue by actor Michael C. Hall, who plays the title character. Clyde Phillips, one of the executive producers on the original series, is back as showrunner.

“There really is nothing like getting back to nature,” Dexter is heard saying, before a pause. “My nature,” he then adds, which we can assume means he’s back to killing. The show’s familiar title is then seen printed in the snow, with the wind blowing. There had been rumors of a Dexter revival for a while, and the project was finally confirmed last October.

“Dexter is such a special series, both for its millions of fans and for Showtime, as this breakthrough show helped put our network on the map many years ago,” Gary Levine, Co-President of Entertainment at Showtime, said in a statement. “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 Clyde Phillips and Michael C. Hall have found it, and we can’t wait to shoot it and show it to the world.”

The revival is already in production, and it appears that Jennifer Carpenter will also return. It is expected to pick up after the events of the show’s controversial final season, which was met with a negative response from critics and fans. In the end, Dexter fled to Oregon after he faked his own death, stole the body of his sister, then sent his son and lover off to Argentina. Carpenter played his sister, Debra, while Yvonne Strahovski starred as his girlfriend, Hannah McKay.

Dexter originally ran from 2006 to 2013 and stars Hall as a Miami forensic scientist who is also a serial killer. The cast all included David Zayas, James Remar, C.S. Lee, Desmond Harrington, Geoff Pierson, Aimee Garcia, Lauren Velez, Erik King, and Julie Benz. Before the widely criticized finale, Dexter was an awards magnet, with Hall and John Lithgow winning Golden Globes in 2010. Hall was nominated for an Emmy four times during its run.

In January, Hall told Entertainment Tonight that enough time has passed that makes now the perfect opportunity to revive Dexter. “Clyde Phillips is back, who was the showrunner for the first four seasons, running the show. And Marcos Siega, who is one of the directors,” Hall said. “He’s like, ‘We’re gonna shoot it like a long, 10-hour movie. It was a combination of the scripts and the timing. I always thought maybe the time will reveal itself when it’s the right time to do it and it did. And I’m excited. I was just visiting the sets the other day and it’s real. It’s really happening.” Disclosure: PopCulture is owned by ViacomCBS Streaming, a division of ViacomCBS.