Despite becoming the most-watched series in the premium cabler’s history, there are no plans for a “Dexter: New Blood” second season with TV Line reporting that Showtime has officially cancelled the successful revival of the franchise.
The ten-episode continuation averaged eight million weekly viewers when it aired late 2021/early 2022, though reviews were quite soft. The finale was the biggest Showtime finale in more than eight years and should a new season have gone ahead, it would’ve followed Dexter’s son Harrison (Jack Alcott) picking up where his father (Michael C. Hall) left off.
The network may not be done with the franchise just yet though as its been reported that very early talks have taken place about potentially exploring new iterations of the franchise, most notably a prequel series centered around a young version of the serial killing blood analyst.
Previously the franchise’s showrunner Clyde Phillips said a second season of ‘New Blood’ is up to the network but “I would drop everything I’m doing and jump right into it. I would love to do it” he says. It’s not clear if he would be as enthused over the prospect of a “Dexter” prequel.
Interest in the future of the franchise has suddenly increated in the wake of yesterday’s news that Showtime will no longer be a stand-alone brand with the cable network being rebranded as ‘Paramount+ with Showtime’ as part of a wide-ranging change to the media empire.
The original eight-season series premiered in fall 2006 and those initial few seasons became one of the most acclaimed series on television with multiple Emmy nominations and a Peabody Award.
