Dexter Revival Showrunner, Who Didn't Make Finale, Says New Series Will Make Things Right

Dexter, Showtime's serial killer drama that ended disastrously in 2013, is coming back for a limited series revival. The new series will be handled by showrunner Clyde Phillips, who served as showrunner for the original first four seasons, and who has now opened up about how the revival will treat that infamous last season.

In the latest episode of The Hollywood Reporter's TV Top 5 podcast, as reported by Vulture, Phillips has talked about what to expect from the show--and said that he won't undo or overwrite the original ending of the series, no matter how much you hated it.

"We basically do get to start from scratch," Phillips said. "We want this to not be Dexter Season 9." The series will pick up close to ten years after that finale, and will "have no resemblance to how that original finale was." However, everything we saw still happened in-universe. "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."

He says that the reason for bringing back Dexter is because "there is such a hunger for Dexter out there," not because they wanted a do-over on the ending.

Phillips also says that he believes that star Michael C. Hall was "not completely satisfied" with the finale, which sounds like a very diplomatic response, all things considered.

The final seasons of Dexter were managed by showrunner Scott Buck, who later ran Iron Fist and Inhumans--neither of which were particularly well-regarded, either.

Jeff Lindsay's Dexter book series also ended in 2015 with the final entry, Dexter is Dead. The new series is expected to air in 2021.