Alas, none of us mustered the courage to collectively reject it, and now we're forced to embrace this reality: Christian Slater has officially been cast in the upcoming prequel series, Dexter: Original Sin. For the sake of simplicity and clarity, we'll henceforth refer to it as "Young Dexter" throughout this article. Is that agreeable? We assumed it would be.
Regardless, Slater will take center stage in Young Dexter, portraying Harry Morgan, a character previously brought to life by James Remar in frequent flashbacks of the original Showtime series (hereafter referred to as Old Dexter, to distinguish it from its 2021 sequel, New Blood/Very Old Dexter). As the adoptive father of our Young Dexter, Harry strives to steer the budding serial killer towards targeting only the deserving victims - namely, criminals who have escaped justice and ideally, those portrayed by prominent guest stars, adding a thrilling climax to each season's murders.
Slater joins the cast alongside Patrick Gibson, his co-star from Shadow & Bone, who will be portraying the younger version of Dexter. (However, given that Gibson is 29, merely six years younger than Michael C. Hall was when he first took on the role of the adult Dexter in 2006, that adjective "young" should be taken with a grain of salt.) Molly Brown completes the trio at the heart of the show, playing a younger Deb Morgan, a role originally essayed by Jennifer Carpenter. Clyde Philips, the creator of both the original series and New Blood, who also oversaw the seasons of the old show that were widely appreciated, will helm the new series as its showrunner. (No official release date has been announced yet, but it's likely that the show will be shared between Showtime and Paramount+ when it finally debuts.) Since wrapping up his breakout role in Mr. Robot in 2019, Slater has been busy, primarily in television. His latest credits include a starring role in The Spiderwick Chronicles and a cameo appearance in Jerry Seinfeld's recent Pop-Tart movie Unfrosted, which seemed to be a social obligation for nearly everyone in Hollywood.
