Showtime has released the latest trailer for the upcoming season nine return of "America's favorite serial killer", Dexter Morgan.

After releasing a short teaser last week, the new trailer is the first time fans have seen actor Michael C. Hall return as the forensic blood spatter analyst.

And it seems Dexter was unable to shake his "dark passenger" during his time as a lumberjack, as the clip shows Morgan with a cheeky smile beaming on his face, as another victim can be seen tied up in plastic wrap.

Check out the trailer below:

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The trailer also appears to call back to how Morgan ended season eight as a lumberjack - with Dexter appearing to be in a cabin in the middle of nowhere with chopped wood piled up outside - all as Nina Simone's 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' plays in the background.

In last week's teaser, Dexter could be heard saying: "There really is nothing like getting back to nature... my nature."

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In an interview with NME regarding the upcoming 10-part limited series, Hall also refused to comment about whether or not season nine would be the last fans will see of Dexter Morgan.

"I've never returned to a job after so much time. Having Dexter in a completely different context, we'll see how that feels," Hall said, adding: "It's been interesting to figure out how to do that, and I thought it was time to find out what the hell happened to him."

"I'm reluctant to say 'definitely,' you know? Let's see. What's plain now is that there's 10 new episodes," he added.

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Of course, despite being one of the most popular TV shows in history, it is no secret that the show's original finale left fans bitterly disappointed.

Addressing the criticisms the show faced following that finale, Hall told IGN back in 2014 that the character had "morphed".

"It was a many-headed creative monster, and certain heads were lopped off halfway through the life of the show," Hall said, adding:

"It was difficult to maintain a cohesive narrative in many ways, but primarily, in terms of the conception of the character, once he started to move into murkier, blurrier, more human territory, it became a very difficult thing to wrap my head around."

And when Hall was asked his opinion on how the show should have ended, Hall said:

"It's tricky. Sometimes I wish he'd offed himself, wish he'd died, wish Deb had shot him in that train compartment - of course, that would have made an eighth season difficult to do."

Fortunately for fans of the show, Dexter did not die, and plans for the upcoming limited series were revealed back in October, with showrunner Clyde Phillips returning as executive producer.

Featured image credit: LANDMARK MEDIA / Alamy

New trailer gives fans first glimpse of Dexter before returning this fall