NBC
The panel in Ballroom 20 for NBC’s Hannibal was a bittersweet experience. After they played a fantastic four-minute trailer for the rest of season three, it felt like the whole audience just got punched in the chest, hit with the realization of, “Where else are we going to see a show like this?” There is no show like Hannibal on television, which is a part of why it’s so special. Its appeal also explains its cancellation: this is not a show for everybody.
If showrunner Bryan Fuller and all involved made Hannibal for a wider audience, then it wouldn’t be show that fans love. We really should be thankful we got three seasons of this wild, imaginative, awesomely pretentious, and emotional show. At the panel, Bryan Fuller appeared adamant to express gratitude, not regret or sorrow, over the show’s cancelled. If this year marks the last time Hannibal makes an appearance at Comic Con, then it was sent off with a warm and loving goodbye, from both the fans and the talent involved.
There is still hope this interpretation of Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) will live on. According to Bryan Fuller, they’re still exploring their options, including maybe finishing the story as a movie. “We are still looking. We don’t have a lot of answers. We’re looking at the possibility of a feature,” Fuller said, a comment which was met with an overwhelming applause. “Hugh and Mads are very committed to the show and would love to continue. The way this season ends there may be an opportunity for a little break and then, hopefully, we’ll find a way to bring Mads and Hugh back to you. Netflix has passed, and they couldn’t do it because of the amazon streaming. Amazon would have like to have done it, but they would have liked to have done it very quickly. I wanted to be able to get all the scripts in advance before we started shooting a fourth season. Their desire to put it on immediately was just impossible to do for us.”
Hannibal is already more cinematic than 99% of what we see in theaters, so its style would certainly lend itself well to a film. Fuller didn’t say if season three has a definitive ending, and if it doesn’t, let’s all just continue pray to God that we see more of this story unfold.
More revealing news was made at the panel, especially when it came to a song we’ll be hearing from a special someone this season. “There’s a lot of fun things coming with new music for the Red Dragon story, and we actually had Siouxsie of Siouxsie and the Banshees compose a song for us, and it’s amazing,” Fuller enthused. “It’s epic and feels like a James Bond theme, and I can’t wait for you all to hear it in the finale of season three.”
Siouxsie’s voice absolutely fits the tone of Hannibal. There’s an emotional, cool, and otherworldly component to her sound, so she’s an inspired choice to help finish season three. Also, the fact that Siouxsie of Siouxsie and the Banshees composed a song for Hannibal is just another reason to love this show. What other show would ask her to write a piece of music for a finale? The sting of this cancellation, sadly, keeps getting worse. Fingers crossed some rich fat cat ponies up the cash for Fuller’s movie idea.
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