On a gloomy Monday morning in Uptown Manhattan, Brian Cox, who was playing Dom Framt, the New York Ripper, drove a motorized wheelchair along the sidewalk while a production crew set up on a residential block. It’s unlikely that onlookers stopped to inquire about what was being filmed.
However, the set photos were uploaded to the internet in a matter of hours, and they had a significant impact on a particular type of television watcher. Dexter: Resurrection Season 2 was developed around this casting. And in retrospect, it is hard to think of anyone more qualified for the position.
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Actor | Brian Cox — Emmy winner (Succession); previously played Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Michael Mann’s 1986 thriller Manhunter |
| Character | Dom Framt, known as the New York Ripper — a former serial killer who terrorized New York City but is no longer actively killing |
| Show & Platform | Dexter: Resurrection Season 2 — Paramount+ (Premium); fall 2026 premiere |
| Character’s Method Now | Rather than continuing to kill, Dom Framt torments and taunts the surviving victims of his past murders — described as finding a new way to live into his infamy |
| Season 1 Setup | The character’s name (revealed as “Don Frampt”) appeared on a folder in villain Leon Prater’s vault; Dexter Morgan and Det. Claudette Wallace discovered the file setting up Season 2 |
| Season 2 Co-Stars | Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Dan Stevens (Five Borough Killer), Kadia Saraf (Det. Claudette Wallace), Bokeem Woodbine, Nona Parker Johnson |
| Filming Status | Actively filming — set photos of Cox as Dom Framt captured in Uptown Manhattan on April 20, 2026, including scenes featuring the character’s motorized wheelchair |
| Further Reference | Full cast and episode updates at Dexter: Resurrection Wikipedia |
Early in April 2026, Deadline, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter all verified Cox’s casting as the New York Ripper during the same news cycle. This kind of simultaneous publicity only occurs when a casting choice is deemed truly significant. Dom Framt was first introduced in Season 1 but never made an on-screen appearance.
At the end of the season, Michael C. Hall’s character Dexter Morgan took a folder with his name that appeared inside the vault of Leon Prater, Peter Dinklage’s quietly terrifying billionaire murder fanatic. It was a purposeful setup, the kind of breadcrumb meant to keep viewers interested for the duration of the season break. The solution has finally been found, and it is Brian Cox.
Cox’s unique texture for this kind of character is what makes the casting so intriguing. Dom Framt is no longer a murderer. He doesn’t hunt anymore. Rather, he enjoys torturing those who survived his initial crimes by sending them messages and staying in their lives long after he ought to have been forgotten.
Cox is particularly skilled at painting that picture of persistent psychological brutality, which is more restrained and, in some respects, colder than overt violence. His Logan Roy in Succession was a man who no longer needed to physically control a space since his presence was sufficient. It appears that Dom Framt follows a similar strategy.
The issue of history is another. Brian Cox portrayed Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Michael Mann’s 1986 picture Manhunter, which came before Succession, The Bourne Supremacy, and most modern viewers were aware of his moniker. When discussing the greatest terrifying screen villains in movies, that performance is often brought up—and sometimes underappreciated.
Four years later, Anthony Hopkins offered his interpretation, which went on to become the accepted cultural standard. However, Cox’s version, quieter and more restrained, was doing something different: he was a Lecter who exuded his menace instead of performing it. After forty years, Cox is going back to a place that has always been somewhat of his own. It seems as though the decades that have passed have further enhanced his contributions.
The season is developing with sincere aspirations. Dan Stevens appears as the villain known as the Five Borough Killer, who calls police with plans to kill people. According to reports, John Lithgow will play Arthur Mitchell, the Trinity Killer again. Mitchell’s bond with Dexter is still one of the primary plot points of the original series.
With Cox’s semi-retired Ripper functioning in a register that is likely very different from the more active threats Dexter will encounter elsewhere, the showrunners seem to be putting together a season centered around opposing types of predatory psychology. The scenes where Cox and Hall just share a frame—two people who know each other better than they would want to admit—might be the most fascinating.
In New York, filming is in progress. The premiere date of fall 2026 has been established. It is difficult not to think that the show has discovered the ideal nemesis for a season that aims to examine what a killer looks like when the murdering stops and what’s left when memory is the only weapon.
