Deadline has reported that Paramount+ has renewed the contract for Uma Thurman (Kill Bill: Volume One, Pulp Fiction) for the second season of Dexter: Resurrection. She will be reprising the role of Charlotte “Charley” Brown, a Special Ops veteran and Head of Security for a billionaire serial killer enthusiast played by Peter Dinklage (Wicked, Idiots).

She will be joining along with newly cast Brian Cox (Succession, Nuremberg), who has taken on the role of the “New York Ripper.” Although he is no longer active, he has chosen to go the BTK route of finding ways to live out his old evils through less violent methods. Filming for the second season is set to begin on April 13^th in New York as the show shifts away from Miami-based production.

The first season of Dexter: Resurrection drew a whopping 4.4 million viewers, and Paramount looks to continue capitalizing on its success.  They have cancelled the prequel, Dexter: Original Sin, to consolidate all of the resources into Dexter: Resurrection. This, compounded by the fact that they decided to keep Thurman and add Cox, shows that the studio is looking to use the flagship series to buy credibility and inflate its prestige value as the Paramount-Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger looms in the background. With only two weeks left before the WBD shareholders will hold a vote to approve the merger, Paramount+ will be doing everything it can to prove its intrinsic value. One great way to do that is to lock in the legacy A-List celebrity Thurman and prove that their biggest series isn’t going anywhere soon. This will help prove to the WBD shareholders that Paramount is every bid worth the massive $31per share. Thurman’s fans have been following her since the 90’s so its likely they will tune in ritualistically, providing stability in viewership during a time when subscriber churn is on stakeholders’ minds due to a typical rise in cancellations during transitions.