While ‘Hannibal‘ might be over, Bryan Fuller talks about not only what happened on the finale but what could happen next. We know the series can’t continue on in anything but in a movie format and Fuller stresses that “there’s a few ways to go” in that realm so we might not have seen the last of this iteration of everyone’s favorite cannibal just yet. With more from ‘Hannibal’ and ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ stories still left to go, there is plenty of ground to cover had the series continued on with Hugh Dancy as Will Graham and Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal Lecter.
I should warn you, there are potential spoilers ahead of both the series finale as well as what might be coming.
The final installment of ‘Hannibal’ showed Graham and Lecter teaming up to take down Richard Armitage‘s take on Francis Dolarhyde and bringing the ‘Red Dragon’ story arc to a close. While the two were able to take down the serial killer, their fates were left unknown as they went over a cliff into the water below right after Hannibal states that “This is all I ever wanted for you.”
Obviously if the story can find a way to continue on we know that the two will survive as not only are there aspects of the novel ‘Hannibal’ to cover, but ‘Silence of the Lambs’ would be the next logical story arc to follow. As it is, we’ll have to decide on our own if this pair made it or not.
When asked about ending it the way he did Fuller says that:
“The story we were telling with Will in this season was one where a fated conclusion was inevitable. Early on in the Italian chapter, Will Graham essentially said, “I have to kill Hannibal Lecter or I’m going to become Hannibal Lecter.” He later finds deviation from that course with a family unit that gives him a grounding that he never had before. When he is pulled back into the FBI and Hannibal Lecter’s orbit, it’s essentially a drug addict returning to the needle and not being strong enough to beat it the second time. He realizes his original intention in the Italian arc is still valid and has to be respected.”
If one of them “had” to die, you have to ask if this fall ended in the death of one of the leads?
“I don’t think you can assume anything. It’s very intentionally left obscure but hopefully somewhat satisfying for the audience. If there is a continuation of this story with Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter and Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen in those roles then of course they survived. And if not then it’s a big fat question mark.”
For fans of Thomas Harris’s work you may have noticed a few familiar lines popping up in the last season. Fuller went out of his way to pay homage to the original author:
“There were a lot of things from the book that were prose, really, and not meant to be dialogue. We put it in actors’ mouths because it was so beautifully written and we wanted the DNA of Thomas Harris to be present in all of the episodes. There’s an interesting sequence in the last two where Jack Crawford and Hannibal Lecter say to Will the same line about playing games the darker the moon. It’s a reflection of their being both the devil and the angel on Will Graham’s shoulders and the fluidity of those roles. The text and the fetishization of the text was really all about the want to honor Thomas Harris in this adaptation.”
So what about that movie that we all want to see happen?
“[Executive producer] Martha De Laurentiis is looking into financing for a film. I’m still hoping that we get to tell that story in some way. There is something in the novel Hannibal that has not been done in any of the adaptations and I would love to explore that with Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter. I’m hoping that someday, whether it’s a year from now … two years from now … that we will continue to get to tell that story. I feel like if Will Graham did survive that plunge, his most interesting chapter is yet to be told.”
Honestly Martha, we are all rooting for you! These two make the best pairing of these characters and we’d all like to see where Fuller can take them next! While it was ratings that sunk the ship, I am glad that NBC was able to deliver 3 seasons of this amazing series to us.
Do you want ‘Hannibal’ to live on in movie format? Are you sad at its passing? Share your thoughts below!
Source: The Hollywood Reporter