Dexter season 9 release date: Cast, who's returning and all the latest news

We last saw Dexter, played by the Golden Globe-winning Michael C. Hall, in 2013, when the anti-hero headed into the woods to give up his murderous habits and live the rest of his life in isolation.

It looks like he's back to his old tricks, however, in season nine's first teaser trailer. A grinning Dexter looks outside onto a snowy landscape, as his latest victim calls out muffled cries for help while trapped in a body bag behind him.

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With the show's former cast members – and brand new ones – set to join Hall for Showtime's upcoming episodes, the drama is expected to make a triumphant comeback, especially in light of the drama's original ending, which left many fans disappointed.

Speaking to The Daily Beast, Hall recently said, "Let’s be real: people found the way that show left things pretty unsatisfying. And there’s always been a hope that a story would emerge that would be worth telling.

"I include myself in the group of people that wondered, ‘What the hell happened to that guy?’ so I’m excited to step back into it. I’ve never had that experience of playing a character this many years on."

Read on for everything you need to know about Dexter season nine.

When will Dexter season 9 air?

Showtime announced at the end of April that vigilante killer Dexter will be back in Autumn 2021.

We don't have an exact date yet, but we'll keep you updated as and when the news breaks.

Will Dexter be available in the UK?

It's not yet clear if Dexter will screen in the UK but it had a strong fan base in the UK when it screened on FX UK channel (the first two seasons screened on Channel 5). It could be that FOX UK (previously FX UK) will again pick up the programme from Showtime.

If you want to revisit Dexter, or even watch it for the first time, Dexter seasons 1-8 are screening on Netflix.

Dexter season 9 cast

Crucially, Michael C Hall will reprise his role as Dexter Morgan, the part he played over eight seasons and 96 episodes between 2006-2013 for US network Showtime.

He responded "never say never" to a question in 2018 about whether or not he'd ever play the serial killer again, but maintained he would only do it if it was fresh, interesting and "worth doing".

Veteran actor Clancy Brown will play a brand new villain in the new series, Kurt Caldwell, who is described as the unofficial mayor of the small town of Iron Lake. Brown's previous credits include roles in The Shawshank Redemption and Billions.

In January 2021, Deadline announced new casting details for the series. Julia Jones, who appeared in the fourth episode of The Mandalorian season one, will portray Angela Bishop, the first Native American Chief of Police in the upstate New York town. Her rebellious daughter Audrey will be played by Believe's Johnny Sequoyah.

Also joining the cast are Alano Miller as an Iron Lake Police Department sergeant who also doubles up as the assistant wrestling coach for the local high school, and Jack Alcott as the mysterious Randall – all we know about him at this stage is that he has a "meaningful encounter" with Dexter.

And later in January, another casting announcement was made – with The Morning Show star David Magidoff set to star as Teddy, a good-natured cop who has been working in Iron Lake for just two weeks and is a little scared of his boss.

Meanwhile, Spotlight star Michael Cyril Creighton will also have a recurring role in the series, appearing in seven episodes as Fred Jr, an affable shop owner who is a well-known face around Iron Lake.

Then in February 2021, two more stars were cast in recurring roles, with Lovecraft Country's Jamie Chung and Manchester on the Sea's Oscar Wahlberg both signing up for the new series.

Ching has been cast as Molly, who is described as a famous true-crime podcaster from LA, while Wahlberg will star as Zach, who is the captain of the Iron Lake High School wrestling team and has a reputation as something of a bully.

One character who won't be returning is Dexter's foster sister, Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter), who was shot and died in Remember the Monsters (unless, of course, she returns in flashbacks, or as a vision à la Dexter's adoptive father Harry in the early seasons)

The involvement of showrunner Clyde Phillips is clearly crucial to Hall's return. He was executive producer on the first four seasons of the show, during which time it was nominated for three Emmy nominations and four Writers Guild Award nominations for best drama series.

Hall himself had five straight lead actor Emmy Award nominations and won a Golden Globe for the role in 2010.

Showtime Entertainment president Gary Levine said: "We would only revisit this unique character if we could find a creative take that was truly worthy of the brilliant, original series. Well, I am happy to report that Clyde Phillips and Michael C Hall have found it, and we can’t wait to shoot it and show it to the world.”

Dexter season 9 trailer

While Showtime is yet to release a full-length trailer for Dexter's ninth season, the broadcaster did share an ominous teaser clip, in which the titular serial killer talks over an icy shot of an axe stuck in a tree stump as a fire burns in the distance. "There really is nothing like getting back to nature," he says. "My nature."

A few days later, Showtime released a longer teaser, showing the same snowy scene before zooming out and revealing Dexter's worried-looking reflection in the window, as one of his victims writhes around in a body bag behind him. As Nina Simone's Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood plays in the background, Dexter turns to camera and smiles. Creepy stuff!

Dexter season 9 spoilers

Phillips says that season nine will feature Dexter's return from the wilderness or wherever he's been in the intervening years since the season eight finale in 2013.

When last seen Dexter had faked his suicide and left Miami behind, heading to the forests of Oregon to become, of all things, a lumberjack, not quite a world away from his police job as a blood-spatter analyst but it may as well have been.

Details of the new series' plot are firmly under wraps, but casting news revealed it would be at least partially set in Iron Lake, a small town in upstate New York, hinting that Dexter may have crawled out of the woodwork to face a new major villain played by Clancy Brown.

Many fans felt let down by the ending and Phillips, who left the show after season four, said he would have ended the series with Dexter's execution, being watched by all his previous victims (hinting at what may in fact lie ahead of Dexter at the end of this revival season?).

But that would have been the final show and at least the widely derided but open-ended conclusion paved the way for Dexter's return.

Phillips told The Hollywood Reporter: "We basically do get to start from scratch. … Ten years, or however many years, have passed by the time this will air, and the show will reflect that time passage. So far as the ending of the show, this will have no resemblance to how the original finale was. It’s a great opportunity to write a second finale."

That didn't mean the show was going to "undo" what happened in season eight; just make it right with Dexter fans – and there is the possibility that it may restore its standing with the fans who were dismayed when he walked off into the bush in season eight.

Who is directing Dexter?

In November, the Hollywood Reporter revealed that Marcos Siega would direct six of the 10 episodes. He directed nine episodes of the original show, two of which Phillips wrote and has since collaborated with the showrunner on other projects. He has also directed True Blood, Veronica Mars, Blindspot and The Hollowing as well as the pilot for The CW series Batwoman.

Siega's latest job has been directing Kaley Cuoco's thriller series The Flight Attendant.

Check out what else is on with our TV Guide.