Clyde Phillips recently clarified whether one of the two main antagonists in Dexter: Resurrection Season 2 was inspired by the infamous real-life Zodiac Killer.
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| Dan Stevens as Lucas Stark, the Five Borough Killer in Dexter: Resurrection Season 2. (Photo credit: Matt Infante/Paramount+) |
The second season of Dexter: Resurrection is almost here, and Dexter Morgan is about to face two major serial killer antagonists. While one is much older and confined to a wheelchair, the other is young, active, and extremely dangerous.
We're talking about the Five Borough Killer, played by Dan Stevens, who will be introduced at the very beginning of the new season. But there's one detail that makes this villain especially intriguing: his methods actually bear a striking resemblance to those of the infamous Zodiac Killer, who terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s.
The similarities have been discussed since Stevens was first announced as part of the Dexter: Resurrection Season 2 cast, with the character’s official description noting that he taunts the police much like the Zodiac Killer did.
Was the Five Borough Killer Inspired by the Zodiac Killer?
But was the resemblance really intentional? Showrunner Clyde Phillips recently addressed the question in an interview with TVLine, revealing whether the writers took inspiration from the notorious real-life killer.
"It just happened to turn out that way," Phillips explained.
He revealed that the idea for the Five Borough Killer took shape in the writers' room in L.A. in late 2025, where someone eventually pointed out the similarities to the Zodiac Killer.
"We came up with this in the writers' room in Los Angeles, and then, somebody in the room said, 'You know, that is not dissimilar to Zodiac,' and I said, 'Then it is our obligation to make it our own,' and that's what we ended up doing. We didn't sit down in the room and say, 'Hey, let's do the Zodiac Killer.'"
So, while viewers may notice parallels between the two killers, Phillips says the Five Borough Killer (Lucas Stark) wasn't deliberately based on the Zodiac or his crimes. Instead, the writers actually recognized the resemblance during development and made a point of giving their fictional villain his own identity.
Fans may still draw comparisons, especially given the way the Five Borough Killer taunts the police. The Zodiac's crimes famously inspired the 2007 film Zodiac, but Phillips has made it clear that recreating that real-life case was never the team's intention.
Now, viewers can see the Five Borough Killer in action when Dexter: Resurrection Season 2 premieres.