Dexter: Resurrection Should Bring Back This Key Character And Do Him Justice This Time

Highlights

• The Dexter universe is expanding with the prequel Dexter: Original Sin in late 2024 and the sequel, Dexter: Resurrection, in the summer of 2025.
• Angel Batista is underused in Dexter: New Blood, and fans anticipate his return in Dexter: Resurrection.
• Dexter: Resurrection is likely to feature the much-anticipated Dexter v Batista stand-off post-New Blood.

The Dexter universe is expanding exponentially, with the release of the prequel series, Dexter: Original Sin, in December 2024, followed by the sequel series, Dexter: Resurrection, in summer 2025. The latter series sees the return of Michael C. Hall as the serial killer with a code. The prequel series will focus on Dexter as he embarks on an internship in the forensics department of Miami Metro Homicide, and it’ll feature the return of many fan favorites, including Angel Batista (now played by James Martinez). Fans are speculating that Batista could also return in Dexter: Resurrection, after the character featured in Dexter: New Blood.

David Zayas played the key character, Angel Batista, in all 8 seasons of the original Dexter series between 2006-2013, and returned as a guest star in two episodes of Dexter: New Blood. However, Batista was criminally underused in the limited series, and there was a lot of unfinished business between him and Dexter that could be fully explored in the upcoming series, which would appease many fans who were left disappointed.

Angel Batista Was Sidelined in Dexter: New Blood And Must Return As A Series Regular in Dexter: Resurrection

Dexter: New Blood premiered on Showtime in late 2021, and it promised to finally give fans a definitive ending to Dexter Morgan’s story.Michael C. Hall returned to play the titular serial killer, with Jennifer Carpenter playing Debra Morgan as a figment of Dexter’s imagination. The rest of the series’ regulars were made up of new characters who resided in the fictional town of Iron Lake, where Dexter has started a new life under the pseudonym of Jim Lindsay.

Fans did get a welcome surprise when David Zayas returned to the role of Angel Batista in episode 5, titled ‘Runaway’, with the character now the Captain of Miami Metro Homicide. He meets Chief Angela Bishop at a convention, and when she arrests Dexter on suspicion of being the Bay Harbor Butcher, she contacts Batista in the final episode of Dexter: New Blood, to share her discoveries. Batista tells her he’s on his way to Iron Lake to confront Dexter, but this confrontation never happens. Dexter escapes, and is shot in the chest by his teenage son, Harrison, and the show ends before Batista can make it to Iron Lake.

Fans were disappointed that Angel Batista was sidelined in Dexter: New Blood, only featuring briefly in two episodes, after being such a key character in the original series. However, when the sequel series was announced at San Diego Comic Con 2024, fans theorized that Dexter was actually alive in Dexter: Resurrection, meaning Angel Batista could return. Dexter: Resurrection must finally do justice to the iconic character of Batista, and give him a proper role in the new series, preferably as a series regular again.

Dexter: Resurrection Could Finally Give Fans The Much Anticipated Dexter v Batista Stand Off

In an interview with Variety, Michael C. Hall provided more details about when the upcoming Dexter spin off, Dexter: Resurrection, will take place:

It’ll pick up right where we left off.

This statement is interesting, as it reveals the events of Dexter: Resurrection will take place immediately after Dexter: New Blood ends, which all but confirms that Angel Batista will return in the sequel series. Batista was literally grabbing his belongings and leaving Miami for Iron Lake the last time he was seen in Dexter: New Blood. The first episode of Dexter: Resurrection will likely see Batista arriving in upstate New York for a showdown with Dexter Morgan, who appears to have survived being shot in the chest due to the rather cold weather conditions:

I don’t know what I’m authorized to say other than ‘it’s really cold out there.’

Fans were facing up to never getting to see the long anticipated stand-off between Batista and Dexter, after the abrupt ending to Dexter: New Blood. However, Dexter: Resurrection has given fans hope that this much needed confrontation between Batista and Dexter will finally take place, and if done right, it’ll be epic. The two characters were close friends for many years, and the origins of this relationship could be explored in Dexter: Original Sin, making their inevitable stand-off in Dexter: Resurrection even more tragic.

The ending to the original Dexter series was met with scorn by the majority of fans and critics, and branded one of the most disappointing finales of all time. One of the reasons for this was because Dexter’s dark passenger was never discovered by Batista and the rest of his colleagues at Miami Metro Homicide, and this was wholly unsatisfying. To add insult to injury, when Batista finally discovered who Dexter really was in Dexter: New Blood, the show ended without the pair coming face to face with each other.

Dexter: Resurrection needs to stick the landing, and give Angel Batista a storyline that does him justice. The sequel won’t be a limited series, so there might be a chance to explore Batista’s character in more depth over an extended period of time, which will delight many fans.