John Lithgow Reveals Details About His Return To Dexter

John Lithgow lets us know exactly what he'll be doing in the Dexter return.

By Jason Collins | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

john lithgow dexter

John Lithgow just offered new insights into the Dexter sequel series and his involvement in the upcoming season of the series after scoring his 13th Emmy nomination. And though his role was small enough to only necessitate a single afternoon of shooting, Lithgow shared all the details about the nature of the project and answered a long-asked fan question – did the original run of Dexter have a problem with its villains.

John Lithgow, a two-time Oscar winner, signed on to the revival of the series back in June to appear once again as the main series’ villain, Trinity Killer, according to a report by Deadline. This confirmation correlates with our previous report that the Dexter series is bringing back one of the dead serial killer rivals to the show. The fans of the show might remember that Lithgow’s tenure on the original run was short, as his character was killed in the Season 4 finale. His announced return to the series sent the fandom into a combination of confusion and excitement while also sparking a debate regarding his character’s return.

Lithgow clarified the nature of his role, disproving any speculations regarding supernatural elements surrounding the return of his character. Fans of the show might remember that we witnessed the Trinity Killer’s demise by Dexter’s hand, which, considering John Lithgow’s brief time on the set, offers one possible outcome – a flashback. Yes, that’s right, Arthur Mitchell, aka The Trinity Killer, only appears in the sequel series as a flashback and nothing more – thus necessitating a single afternoon of filming.

Dexter John Lithgow

As for the details surrounding the upcoming series, John Lithgow offered some insight into how the series will differentiate itself from Dexter’s original eight-season run.  The new series will be a completely different story, a reimagining of the original. But instead of recreating the original series or placing it into a different era, the creative team placed the new narrative in a different part of the world, a different part of the country, and with a whole new cast of characters. Given Lithgow’s short appearance as a flashback, we might be discussing parallel narratives or a time jump forward – perhaps a whole decade.

In truth, a hero, or in Dexter’s case, an antihero, is only as good as the villain that opposes him, and Dexter had its best villain in Season 4, opposing John Lithgow’s The Trinity Killer – which grew to be a fan-favorite killer of the show. In fact, his character’s enormous popularity among the fans earned John Lithgow his fifth Emmy in 2010, one of thirteen he earned during his 49-year-long career. John Lithgow, one of the most prolific actors in Hollywood, is credited with 125 appearances as an actor, receiving many accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards, six Primetime Emmy Awards, three Screen Actor Guild Awards, and fifteen other industry awards. His most recent projects include the HBO reboot of Perry Mason and the upcoming, highly-anticipated 10-episode limited sequel series of Dexter.