Dexter: Original Sin First Look Reveals Michael C. Hall Replacement In Serial Killer Prequel Series

Just what is Dexter: Original Sin about, though? It is set a full 15 years before the first season of the original Showtime series making this a period piece set in 1991 Miami. It will closely follow Gibson’s Dexter as he is mentored by his father (played by Christian Slater), a detective who realizes that his son has a darkness inside him that will need to be frequently fed.

To this end, he helps Dexter develop a special code dictating both who and how he kills, allowing him to fly under the radar rather than ending up in a cell or in the ground.

Arguably, getting to see more of the relationship between the young serial killer and his father is the biggest draw of Dexter: Original Sin because dear old dad is long dead by the beginning of the original series.

In these photos, Christian Slater looks a lot like Harry Morgan, a character originally played in flashback scenes by James Remar. However, it’s admittedly difficult for anyone who grew up watching Slater play a teenage killer in Heathers to see him now playing another killer’s aging father.

Of course, Slater isn’t the one that fans are focusing on in these photos—rather, audiences who fell in love with the original show are trying to determine how well Patrick Gibson can bring a young Dexter Morgan to life. Michael C. Hall impressed everyone so much in the earlier series because he had a Batman-like ability to convincingly play a family man and loyal police employee by day and a vengeance-obsessed monster by night.

In these photos, Gibson certainly looks scary (if a bit more like Patrick Bateman than Dexter Morgan) while brooding and killing, though he fittingly looks more vulnerable when chatting with his father.

The other challenge this show will face is, of course, separating itself from the original. The plot of Dexter: Original Sin has the title character beginning an internship with the Miami Metro Police Department’s forensics department, so the new show may follow in the old’s footsteps as Dexter navigates being both a crimefighter and a master criminal.

That delicate balance worked well in the earlier show, but only time will tell if the new show will throw enough surprises at us to win over audiences old and new.

As for us, we’re trying to be optimistic—Dexter: Original Sin brings back original showrunner Clyde Phillips to run the new series, which is also being produced by Michael C. Hall.

The new show doesn’t have a release date yet, but it began filming in Miami on June 5. Here’s hoping it appeals to the Dark Passenger in all of us; otherwise, fans may quickly tune out, killing the new series as surely as if they were wielding Dexter’s trusty knife.

Source: Deadline