Everything We Know About the Dexter Prequel, Dexter: Original Sin

Not every big TV show needs the get the prequel treatment, but Dexter is certainly one that makes a lot of sense — the titular serial killer had already been doing his thing for 15 years when the original series began in 2006. While audiences learned a lot about Dexter Morgan's history through flashbacks, there's still plenty of ground to cover. And it looks like Dexter: Original Sin is going to cover a lot of it.

The Paramount+/Showtime series follows a young Dexter Morgan as he begins a forensics internship at the Miami Metro Police Department. There, he'll meet familiar characters played by a new cast. 

Read on to learn more about what we hope will be a bloody good series, including who is playing young Dexter, when the show will be released, and what it's about.

More on Dexter:

• Shows like Dexter
• Dexter: New Blood review
• The most heartbreaking TV character deaths

Dexter: Original Sin latest news

In September, Paramount+ with Showtime (say that three times fast) dropped the first teaser for Dexter: Original Sin and announced that the series will premiere on streaming on Friday, Dec. 13 on Paramount+ with Showtime, before making its on-air debut on Sunday, Dec. 15 on Showtime. 

Dexter: Original Sin teaser

The first teaser for Dexter: Original Sin clocks in at around 30 seconds, but it manages to give an enticing look at all that's to come as we learn how Dexter Morgan became the Dexter we know, love, and fear. "They say it takes a village to raise a killer," narrator Michael C. Hall (who, per the trailer, is being credited as "the inner voice of Dexter") says over brief glimpses of Patrick Gibson as young Dexter, Christian Slater as Dexter's father Harry, Patrick Dempsey as Captain Aaron Spencer, and more.

When does Dexter: Original Sin premiere?

The teaser revealed that Dexter: Original Sin will premiere on Paramount+ with Showtime on Friday, Dec. 13. The show will make its on-air debut on Sunday, Dec. 15 on Showtime. The first season will consist of 10 episodes.

What is Dexter: Original Sin about?

As the title implies, Dexter: Original Sin is all about Dexter learning to control his killer urges in a more, erm, positive way. In the original show, we learned Dex made his first human kill in 1991 when he was 20 years old. At the time, a nurse was slowly poisoning his adoptive father, Harry, and she became his first target. Although the first-season flashback episode introduced the canon, we never saw the kill. 

They'll likely recreate that scene in the new show. The story picks up in 1991, when Harry was still alive, 15 years before we first met Dexter in Dexter. Harry works at Miami Metro and will help Dexter manage his Dark Passenger (which eventually leads Dex to become the Bay Harbor Butcher). That means we should also see the creation of the Kill Room and the origins of The Code, and, of course, learn more about Dexter's blood sample slide ritual.

There's ample opportunity to go into Harry's psyche here, too. We know he eventually takes his own life after witnessing Dex do his murdery stuff, so his arc could be an interesting one. After all, we've only ever known him through flashbacks and via Dexter's memory. The new show is also an opportunity to see how Dexter became so liked by his co-workers and to explore their early relationships. Maybe we'll also learn why he always brought in those donuts.

Who stars in Dexter: Original Sin?

Shadow and Bone star Patrick Gibson takes over the role of Dexter Morgan from Michael C. Hall. Hall, who originated the role, has joined the series as the narrator of young Dexter's thoughts.

Christian Slater plays the prequel's version of Harry (played by James Remar in the original), a Miami homicide detective, and Molly Brown rounds out the family as a younger — but hopefully just as foul-mouthed — version of Dexter's sister Deb (originated by Jennifer Carpenter).

At Miami Metro, Christina Milian is the new Maria LaGuerta. In the prequel, she's establishing herself as the department's first female homicide detective. James Martinez is Angel Batista, and Alex Shimizu plays a younger version of Vince Masuka. It's still TBD if Masuka will crack the same problematic jokes, but we can't wait to hear Shimizu's take on his signature laugh.

On June 20, it was announced that Grey's Anatomy vet Patrick Dempsey joined the cast as Captain Aaron Spencer, the captain of the Miami Metro Homicide Department where Harry also works. 

So far, Dexter: Original Sin won't include the James Doakes character. We know Doakes worked elsewhere before joining Miami Metro, so he could appear in a future season to partner professionally and physically with LaGuerta. 

Meanwhile, the first season will introduce two new characters whom Dexter will deal with at work. Bobby Watt, played by Reno Wilson, is Harry's friend, confidant, and partner at Miami Metro. And Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar will be Dexter's boss, Tanya Martin, during his forensics internship.

Dexter: Original Sin cast:

• Patrick Gibson as Dexter Morgan
  
• Christian Slater as Harry Morgan
• Molly Brown as Deb Morgan
• Christina Milian as Maria LaGuerta
• James Martinez as Angel Batista
• Alex Shimizu as Vince Masuka
• Patrick Dempsey as Captain Aaron Spencer
• Reno Wilson as Bobby Watt
• Sarah Michelle Gellar as Tanya Martin
• Michael C. Hall as the inner voice of Dexter Morgan

Dexter: Original Sin photos

In July, Paramount+ with Showtime released a handful of first-look images to promote the show, giving us our first good look at Patrick Gibson as young Dexter Morgan, Christian Slater as Harry Morgan, and more. Check them out in the gallery below. 

Dexter: Original Sin First Look Images

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Who created Dexter: Original Sin?

Fans of the original series will be relieved to know Clyde Phillips is in charge of the prequel. Phillips brought Dexter to life when the show premiered in 2006 and oversaw the writers room for four seasons, until that shocking Season 4 finale involving the Trinity Killer (John Lithgow). 

But then Phillips left, and most fans agreed the show fell apart. There were multiple love interests, a weird twist involving Deb and Dex that most of us would like to forget, and time jumps that skipped over essential plot points. Then there was the finale, which threw away all the show's character development, was rushed, and concluded with an open ending that felt like a cheat.

In 2021, Phillips returned for New Blood, and although the series felt like a return to the original character, it couldn't ignore the plot points from Seasons 5 through 8. It was also polarizing because it introduced an adult version of Dexter's son, Harrison (Jack Alcott), who had his own Dark Passenger. He wasn't an instant hit with fans the way Dexter was, but thankfully, the series doled out a much more solid finale. 

When Phillips helms the prequel, we can only hope he'll focus on the characteristics that made us root for a serial killer in the first place. If anyone can stay true to the characters and their journeys to becoming the ones we met in that pilot 18 years ago, it's him.

Is Michael C. Hall involved in Dexter: Original Sin?

It's official: Hall will return to perform his signature inner monologues for the younger version of Dexter in Original Sin. 

In addition, Hall will reprise the role of Dexter Morgan in a new Dexter sequel series, Dexter: Resurrection, which is expected to premiere in the summer of 2025. It's unclear how that show will work with the end of the previous Dexter sequel, 2021's New Blood. (Per Variety, Hall played coy about the logistics of his return when asked about it at San Diego Comic-Con.)

Hall is also an executive producer on Original Sin. In June, Hall sent his well wishes to the cast, crew, and production team on Instagram, saying, "I cannot wait to take the walk with all the fans down Dexter's memory lane."

Where can I rewatch Dexter?

The entire original series and the 10-episode sequel Dexter: New Blood are now streaming on Paramount+.