Days after Brian Cox was announced to be playing Don Framt, a notorious serial killer called the New York Ripper in Dexter: Resurrection season 2, it has now been announced that Dan Stevens of Zero Day and Downton Abbey-fame has joined the cast.

The actor will appear in a series regular role as Owen Stark, the Five Borough Killer in the upcoming season. Besides them, Uma Thurman returns as Charley, the former Special Ops officer who worked under Leon Prater (Peter Dinklage) and escaped from the city towards the end of the first season.

Stevens' character is described to be similar to the Zodiac Killer. "He taunts the police with phone calls threatening the murder of innocent citizens. When he follows through with the awful deeds…the City and the Police are terrorized," his description reads.

Michael C Hall is set to reprise his titular role from the first season and the previous instalments of the long-running franchise.

Season 1 is set weeks after Dexter is shot by his own son. He awakens from a coma to find Harrison (Jack Alcott) has left without a trace. He wants to reconcile with his son and leaves to New York City, but his past continues to haunt him. In the final episode of the first season, Dexter Morgan discovers who the New York Ripper is after finding the folder of its antagonist Leon Prater, with the words "Don Frampt, New York Ripper".

The previous season also starred Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Kadia Saraf, Dominic Fumusa, Emilia Suárez, James Remar, Harry Morgan. Neil Patrick Harris, Krysten Ritter, Eric Stonestreet, and David Dastmalchian.

Clyde Phillips serves as the showrunner and executive producer of the series. Season 2's plotline is currently under wraps. Hall, Scott Reynolds, Marcos Siega, Tony Hernandez, and Lilly Burns also executive produce, alongside John Goldwyn and Sara Colleton, Veronica West, Kirsa Rein, Tanner Bean, and Katrina Mathewson. Paramount Television Studios and Counterpart Studios back the series.