Dexter Resurrection Has Fans Asking, Isn’t He Dead?

San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) was a treasure trove of information for Dexter fans who have been excited about the upcoming prequel series Dexter: Original Sin. The panel surprised fans with the news that Michael C. Hall, who played the title character in the original, will be part of the new project by providing the narrative voice of his younger self’s inner monologue (played by Patrick Gibson). But that wasn’t it: he will also reprise the role for another spin-off series.

Titled Dexter: Resurrection, Hall will return as the titular vigilante serial killer. Naturally, fans have questions about how this will work. Those who watched the limited series revival Dexter: New Blood know that Dexter was shot and killed by his teenage son Harrison (Jack Alcott). Or was he?

How Is Dexter Alive?

There is little known just yet about Dexter: Resurrection, other than that Hall will return to play Dexter Morgan. Showrunners also confirm that the story will pick up right where Dexter: New Blood left off. It seems impossible to include Dexter himself since, as mentioned, he was presumably killed. But this news suggests the certainty of his death, which was even verified by showrunner Clyde Phillips at the time, might not be so certain after all.

When asking how he could return since his death was confirmed in that finale back in 2022, Hall coyly asked “Was it?” He added that he doesn’t know what he is authorized to say, but that “it’s really cold out there.”

Fan Theories

Fans have been discussing how Dexter could still be alive, with some interesting theories. One, posited by Unique_Ad6226 on Reddit, is that he could have a condition called Dextrocardia whereby the heart is on the right side of the body instead of the left where it is for most people. Thus, while Harrison presumably shot Dexter in the heart, he might have missed because of this medical condition. “That would be f**king 10/10 writing,” they add, noting the similarities between the name of the condition and Dexter.

Supernatural elements involving Dexter’s Dark Passenger could also be a possibility, though that seems far too contrary to the tone and approach of the show. Fans don’t want to consider that Dexter is dead, but his ghost lives on through a Dark Passenger.

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Hall’s reference to the cold suggests that perhaps his status has a more practical explanation: the snow he collapsed in helped stop the bleeding long enough for him to come to and escape. Dexter knows enough about the human body to remove the bullet and patch himself up. This could be another instance of Dexter faking his own death and going on the run, ending up in another town where he tries to blend in once again.

In Dexter: New Blood, Dexter did hallucinate often, after all. He would see his sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) speaking to him, as he used to see his father. So, it’s a plausible theory that he had been hallucinating the entire time, trying to imagine what his son would be like. It makes sense because it was already tough to believe that in all the time that passed since Dexter ended, the character managed to resist the urges of his very powerful Dark Passenger. He may very well have been killing the entire time.

What Happened to Dexter in Dexter: New Blood?

Dexter: New Blood aimed to right the wrongs of the original series finale, which many call one of the worst TV finales ever made. Dexter faked his death and moved to a small rural town in upstate New York. He took on the name Jim Lindsay (a nod to the author Jeff Lindsay who wrote the books on which the story and character is based) and worked in a local outdoor shop while living in a remote cabin where yes, he chopped a lot of wood. He had seemingly been controlling his dark urges for years until coming across a man who fit The Code.

Eventually, he was reunited with his son Harrison, who was just a toddler when he left him with Hannah to live a better life. He learned that Hannah sadly passed away and Harrison, after discovering letters proving his father was still alive, hunted him down to reconnect. While Harrison didn’t know who his father truly was and what he had done, he realized there was a reason his father went on the run.

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Dexter makes the difficult decision to tell his son who he is, believing, after a few angry encounters, that Harrison might have a Dark Passenger of his own. Harrison at first seems receptive, recognizing that Kurt (Clancy Brown) is an awful person who does horrible things to people and thus deserves to die. But when he sees what his father is capable of, including killing another innocent man and ritualistically killing and chopping up bodies, he is horrified. Dexter realizes that the only way Harrison can live a normal existence is for Dexter to die, and he tells his son to shoot him. While reluctant, Harrison does the deed.

Dexter’s body is found by Angela (Julia Jones), his girlfriend, who also happens to be a police officer. She gives Harrison money and tells him to leave town and never come back. She is going to take the fall for Dexter’s death, claiming self-defense and revealing him as a killer. But maybe she doesn’t. Maybe she lets him go knowing he killed the man who had killed so many innocent women in the small town. Or maybe he kills Angela and escapes before anyone else arrives. Since this is where the story ends, fans don’t know exactly what happens next.

The last thing fans see is Harrison driving out of town as he reads the final letter Dexter wrote to Hannah. Dexter is presumed dead, but clearly, this might not be the case.

What to Know About Dexter

Dexter Morgan didn’t appear to be a “normal” remorseless killer. While he, by and large, made sure to follow his father Harry’s Code and only kill people who he could prove did heinous things, his lack of remorse for these kills could weirdly be understood. He was cleaning the streets and arguably saving lives in the process.

He showed some semblance of emotion in other instances, alongside general disdain for the typical human condition. When he discovered Rita’s body in the bathtub after she became the final victim of Arthur Mitchell, a.k.a. The Trinity Killer (John Lithgow), he appeared to be upset. He also went out of his way to protect Astor (Christina Robinson) and Cody (Preston Bailey), refused to kill Debra and showed genuine sadness when his sister died.

In his final moments in Dexter: New Blood, Dexter’s inner monologue reveals that he believes he finally felt love for the first time, sacrificing himself for his son. He also wanted to atone for his failure as a father, something contrary to what a psychopath would do. Dexter is a nuanced character, and if he survives, his mentality could go either way. He could focus on reinventing himself once again as an upstanding citizen, staying out of situations that could get him into trouble, and finding other ways to squash his Dark Passenger.

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Or, more likely, he could gravitate in the opposite direction and realize he has now officially loved and lost and has nothing left to lose. Now he wants to make his survival worth something and take out anyone he feels doesn’t deserve to live. An unhinged Dexter who doesn’t live by a Code, or who tries to rationalize ways to use his Code to suit his objectives, could be an interesting departure from the more restrained Dexter fans have seen up to this point.

Whatever direction the show goes, fans expect it will be the same Dexter they have come to know and weirdly love. Dexter is Showtime’s most successful series ever, and with Dexter: New Blood and soon Dexter: Original Sin and Dexter: Resurrection, he has officially become a franchise.

Stream Dexter on Netflix. Dexter: Resurrection will be released in summer 2025.