Dexter: Original Sin creator speaks out on show's shock cancellation – and he's not happy about it
"It wasn’t handled well and I’m not happy about it.”
Dexter: Original Sin creator Clyde Phillips has opened up about the show's shock cancellation, saying “it wasn’t handled well”.
The show, which is a prequel to the original Dexter series, was cancelled back in August 2025 just months after it had been officially renewed by Paramount.
Speaking on the Dissecting Dexter podcast about Dexter: Resurrection's recent finale, Phillips said he was unhappy with the way the prequel’s cancellation had been handled, given that he’d already informed the actors and writers they’d be coming back for the show.
“It was a tough phone call I got that night where they had already picked up the show," he said.
He added: "I had informed all the writers and actors, and then they unpicked it up, all while picking up Resurrection, which was no surprise. It wasn’t handled well and I’m not happy about it.”
The cancellation of the second season of Original Sin came shortly after the closing of Paramount’s merger with Skydance.
Variety reported at the time that new leadership had come in and decided to re-evaluate the company’s slate, leading them to choose to scrap Original Sin and focus instead on Dexter: Resurrection season 2 to continue the franchise.
Phillips noted on the podcast that prior to the Skydance merger, the studio wanted to transform Dexter into a Yellowstone-style franchise, with the idea being that Phillips would take on the same responsibilities that Taylor Sheridan does for Yellowstone and the bigger franchise that spawned from it.
As a result, Phillips had plotted out a big future for the franchise, but all of that now appears to have been scrapped.
However, it seems the plan is still to go ahead with more seasons of Dexter: Resurrection, which should ease some fans’ concerns about the future of the franchise.
Dexter: Original Sin and Dexter: Resurrection are available to stream on Paramount Plus.
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Authors
Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.
