The Dexter universe has continued to grow in the decades since the original series premiered — but what is the difference between each show?
Michael C. Hall initially played the title role on Showtime’s series, which ran from 2006 to 2013. He later returned to TV screens as Dexter in a 2021 spinoff titled New Blood, which ended just one year later.
Despite Dexter’s death in the revival, the demand for more stories about the fictional serial killer didn’t waver. By 2024, Dexter received a prequel and a spinoff that found a way to bring the titular character back to life.
“I’m on the inside to a certain degree and I have a sense of what’s coming, but I’m really excited,” Hall told Entertainment Weekly in August 2024 about the future of the franchise. “I’ve spent so much time with this character and to go back and have all the imaginative blanks filled in is going to be great.”
See the ‘Dexter: OG Sin’ TV Cast Compared to Their Sequel Show Counterparts
Hall credited Paramount+’s prequel for allowing him to prepare even more for Dexter: Resurrection.
“The scripts they’ve executed are fantastic. I can’t wait, like, as a fan, to watch it, and as an actor, to spend time seeing real footage of things that I’ve sort of tried to imagine for myself when I imagine what Dexter’s early days [were like],” he teased to EW. “Now I’m going to have this technicolor version of his memories to refer to. I think it will help inform my experience of whatever comes next in the other series, which I can only speak vaguely about at this point. It’s pretty heady. It’s so gratifying.”
While some viewers may have questions about the timeline of events — or the order each show should be watched in — showrunner Clyde Phillips explained to The Hollywood Reporter in December 2024 that Dexter: Resurrection should be seen as “the next season” following Dexter: New Blood. Dexter: Original Sin would come first, since it shows exactly how Dexter originally became a serial killer.
Keep scrolling for a guide to each spinoff — and how they exist in the larger Dexter TV universe:
‘Dexter’ (2006-2013)
The show that started it all introduced Us to Dexter, a forensic technician in Miami who led a secret life as a vigilante serial killer. Dexter’s first season took inspiration from Jeff Lindsay’s novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter.
‘Dexter: New Blood’ (2021-2022)
The short-lived revival continued Dexter’s story after he faked his death in Miami and moved to the fictional town of Iron Lake, New York, where he lived under an alias and worked at a sporting goods store.
While Dexter was seemingly killed off by his son, Harrison (Jack Alcott), in the finale, Dexter: Resurrection told a different story.
What to Remember Before ‘Dexter: Original Sin’ — Including Major Deaths
‘Dexter: Original Sin’ (2024-Present)
Paramount+’s prequel is set in the ’90s and focuses on Dexter’s transition from student to avenging serial killer and unsuspecting member of the Miami Metro Police Department. Original Sin stars Patrick Gibson, Molly Brown, James Martinez, Christina Milian, Christian Slater, Alex Shimizu, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Patrick Dempsey and Reno Wilson.
‘Dexter: Resurrection’ (2025-Present)
Picking up a few weeks after the events of New Blood, Dexter is still on the mend from his near-fatal injuries as he chases a missing Harrison to New York City while Captain Batista is still on his trail from Miami.
In addition to Hall, Alcott and Zayas, this iteration is packed with star-studded cameos from Krysten Ritter, Neil Patrick Harris, Eric Stonestreet, Uma Thurman and Peter Dinklage.
