Nearly two decades after Dexter Morgan made his television debut, the character's origins are revealed in the cast is comprised of brand new actors playing familiar roles from the classic series, Michael C. Hall does appear in the pilot, and narrates the series.

Like the original series and Dexter: New Blood before it, more than their fill of Dexter, from his murderous origins to his uncertain future.

ScreenRant interviewed Clyde Phillips about his work on the Dexter universe, from the divisive ending of Dexter: New Blood to the decision to create multiple new Dexter shows simultaneously. He explained why the decision was made to kill off Dexter in New Blood, and why they brought him back to life for the aptly-named Resurrection. Finally, he spoke about the prequel nature of Original Sin, which sees Dexter at a point in his life where he's not fully learned how to hide in plain sight.

Dexter: Original Sin Showrunner Clyde Phillips On The Ever-Expanding Dexter Universe

"They're starting to call it "The Dexterverse"

ScreenRant: Hi there! I'm excited to talk to you. It's a new generation of Dexter, literally, in the case of this show. But you've got, it's Dexterpalooza! We've got Dexter out the wazoo, we've got Dexter: Resurrection and Dexter: Original Sin, which is "year zero" kind of stuff.

Clyde Phillips: Yeah, they're starting to call it "The Dexterverse."

The Dexterverse... Can we make it Dexterpalooza?

Clyde Phillips: Sure. We'll go with you.

Forgive me. But first of all, tell me a little bit about, you know, the reception to the previous series, the previous revival, you know, The New Blood, and kind of how that led into this Dexterverse, you know?

Clyde Phillips: Sure... Well, if you're talking about the reception, you're talking about everybody hating the ending? Is that what you're talking about?

Dexter Showrunner On The Controversial Decision To Kill Dexter And Now Bring Him Back

"At that time, I only had Michael C. Hall for one year, so I had to end the show."

Well, I mean, I guess they had a measured response to the original ending, and then you came in and were like, "Alright, let's do it again."

Clyde Phillips: The way New Blood worked is, and what I wanted to say to social media [was]... They went crazy when Dexter was shot, which just showed me how much they loved the character and loved the show. But at that time, I only had Michael C. Hall for one year, so I had to end the show. And then it turned out that the finale, which I was privileged enough to write, was the most-watched episode in the history of Showtime. And Showtime immediately ordered a sequel, for which I got my writers back together.

We wrote all 10 episodes, and that was for Showtime and Gary Levine, the president of Showtime. And then Chris McCarthy from MTV Entertainment and Paramount came along and said... "I don't believe in sequels. I want to do a prequel. Can you come up with a prequel?" And so I did. I pitched it to him and Gary, and then Chris said four words at the end of the pitch: "Phenomenal. I love it." And the next thing I know, I've got my writers back together, and we're banging out the prequel, which is Original Sin.

But Resurrection is still moving forward. Are those same scripts that you wrote for New Blood?

Clyde Phillips: No, no. Resurrection is different.

It's a whole new thing.

Clyde Phillips: It's a whole new show. Michael Hall called me and said, "you know what? I've got Dexter in my bones. Clyde, you've got Dexter in your bones. Let's keep going. Can you figure it out? How can I have survived what happened in the finale?"

My team and I figured it out, pitched it to Michael. He loved it. Pitched it to Showtime and Paramount. "They're not going to say no to this. I mean, it's their biggest show!" And we start shooting that in a month. So, all while shooting Original Sin, we were writing Resurrection.

Is there a synergy between the shows? Do you get to kind of call forward and back between them, or are they very much their own separate entities?

Clyde Phillips: Other than the fact that Dexter is who he is, they're separate entities.

Clyde Phillips On The Quasi-Reboot Nature of Dexter: Original Sin

"He's 20 years old, a college student, socially awkward, never kissed a girl, doesn't know how to hug his own sister."

And this show is kind of a quasi-reboot in a way, because it recasts everybody, it's younger versions of themselves. Can you tell me a little bit about kind of bringing back that, like, season one energy of Dexter, kind of learning who he is, except this time he's learning who he is?

Clyde Phillips: That's a great point. Because when we first see Dexter in the OG series, he's 35 years old and fully developed as a serial killer. Right? Now we meet him in Original Sin, he's 20 years old, he's a college student, he's socially awkward, he's never kissed a girl, he doesn't know how to hug his own sister. And he's got to learn how to blend in and be part of the world. Yet he is fated to be a serial killer. And that's the inevitable part of his journey that the audience is familiar with, and they get to see that baby grow up. I mean, again, he's a college student.

I mean, when we meet the original Dexter, he's living with a woman and she's got two kids and he can pretty well play the game. Here, this guy, Patrick Gibson, young Dexter, has no idea how to play the game and we get to watch that happen. Also, we get to see Harry, played by Christian Slater, thank God, be alive and be a father and have influence on his son and have the memories of the 1973 portions when he was with Dexter's mother. And even before that, the swimming pool scene. That's really a very moving, very transformative scene, moment in somebody's life. And that all builds character. It all helps the actors build their own characters.

Well, thank you so much. It's really hard to nail a prequel, but having seen the first three episodes, you frigging nailed it, man.

Clyde Phillips: Oh, thanks. That's so nice. What a great way to end this. Thank you so much!

More About Dexter: Original Sin Season 1

New Episodes Every Friday On Paramount+ with SHOWTIME

Set in 1991 Miami, DEXTER: ORIGINAL SIN follows Dexter (Patrick Gibson) as he transitions from student to avenging serial killer. When his bloodthirsty urges can’t be ignored any longer, Dexter must learn to channel his inner darkness. With the guidance of his father, Harry (Christian Slater), he adopts a Code designed to help him find and kill people who deserve to be eliminated from society without getting on law enforcement’s radar. This is a particular challenge for young Dexter as he begins a forensics internship at the Miami Metro Police Department.

Check out our other Dexter: Original Sin interviews here:

• Christina Milian & Reno Wilson
• Alex Shimizu & James Martinez

The first episode of Dexter: Original Sin is now streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime, with new episodes releasing every Friday.

Source: Screen Rant Plus