Today in 'No Thank You': First Image of Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer in Netflix's Upcoming Ryan Murphy Series

Netflix has revealed its first look at Evan Peters as serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in an upcoming Ryan Murphy series, just in case any of you needed a reminder that this is a thing we’re getting very soon.

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, co-created by Murphy and Ian Brennan, reunites the divisive showrunner with his long-time American Horror Story cast member. Now, he’s delving into the world of true crime once more. The series will chronicle the life and crimes of Dahmer, who murdered 17 men and boys over approximately 13 years before his arrest in 1991.

First teaser for Ryan Murphy’s “Dahmer,” starring Evan Peters! pic.twitter.com/yAkI5WcRPF

— The AHS Zone (@ahszone) August 25, 2022

First look at Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer in the upcoming Netflix series DAHMER.

(Source: What's On Netflix) pic.twitter.com/ysMBQA1afZ

— Netflix Life (@NetflixLifee) August 25, 2022

Evans previously talked to Variety about the project, effusively claiming, ‘There are beautifully written scripts. You can have all the backstory you want, but at the end of the day we’re not making a documentary. It’s more about maintaining the idea and the throughline of why you’re telling the story and always having that as your guiding light.’ The show will also star Penelope Ann Miller and Richard Jenkins as Dahmer’s parents, and Niecy Nash as one of his neighbors.

I don’t think it’s much of a hot take to say that I’m seriously worried about this series. Ryan Murphy is a showrunner who revels in the unreal, a creator torn between soap opera and high art. He loves the lascivious, to create worlds where subtext is for cowards. He also gets super bored with his own ideas very quickly, as evidenced by every season of American Horror Story running out of steam about halfway through. When he’s off the leash — in charge rather than on the sidelines as an executive guide — he can’t help but give into his worst excesses: tawdry subplots, cheap character payoffs, and a distinctively romantic gaze towards the taboo.

The best parts of American Crime Story focused on the unexplored aspects of infamous true-life events, such as the struggles of Chris Darden and Marcia Clarke during the O.J. Simpson trial, or the systemic homophobia of ’90s America when Gianni Versace was assassinated. I can definitely see those themes at play in a Dahmer series. After all, his victims were typically young boys and men of color whom the police ignored or scorned. Two Milwaukee police officers infamously allowed one of Dahmer’s victims, the 14-year-old Laotian boy name Konerak Sinthasomphone, to be returned to him after he fled Dahmer’s apartment. Dahmer had told the officers that Sinthasomphone was his boyfriend and they had just had a fight. He then murdered and dismembered the boy. Perhaps Murphy is keyed into the homophobia, racism, and failures of the justice system that allowed Dahmner to flourish. I remain skeptical that he’s the right man to bring them to life with sensitivity and a deft hand. Remember, there’s a whole damn scene in American Horror Story: Hotel ] where a bunch of serial killers, including Dahmer, get together for wacky shenanigans, and Dahmer assaulting a victim is played for laughs.

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story will premiere on Netflix later this year.