Bryan Cranston says he’s willing to return to the role of Walter White in Better Call Saul season 6. The beloved spinoff of Breaking Bad began in 2015, earning plenty of praise along the way for its characterization and writing. Now, as Better Call Saul prepares for its final batch of episodes, fans are still wondering if a Heisenberg cameo is in the cards.
Responding to the possibility of including Cranston in Better Call Saul, the co-creators of the spinoff have consistently said that they’d be open to it. Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould added a caveat to their openness, however, by arguing that Cranston’s appearance needed to be essential to the story. While the writers of Better Call Saul have been happy to indulge in sneaky Breaking Bad references, they felt that important characters like Walter, Jesse, and Skyler needed to be handled with more thoughtfulness. Gould has said more recently that the Breaking Bad movie, El Camino, negates the need for further appearances by Walter. Regardless of what the creative team behind Better Call Saul decides for season 6, Cranston is eager to be involved with the critically-acclaimed spinoff.
While promoting his upcoming Disney+ movie, The One and Only Ivan, Cranston shed some light on the possibility of being a part of Better Call Saul in some capacity. While he noted that it’s been difficult for him to step behind the camera to direct an episode of the spinoff due to scheduling conflicts, he was absolutely adamant about his willingness to reprise the iconic role of Walter White. You can check out Cranston’s full quote, from an interview with Collider, below.
“I would be in it if Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, who are co-executive producers on it, wanted me to be in it. I would do it in a second. But it hasn’t happened yet, I can tell you, and we’ll see. I don’t know. There’s one more season to go and we’ll see what happens!”
There has long been speculation about Cranston appearing on Better Call Saul. But as the spinoff approaches its final stretch, one thing that has to be taken into consideration is that Cranston’s character has already finished his arc during the original run of Breaking Bad. In one of the most complex journeys from hero to villain, before at last finding a measure of redemption, Walter White got to live out his story to its completion. Fans also received an additional bit of closure when Walter showed up in a flashback for El Camino. Gilligan and Gould are ultimately faced with the decision of whether to rely on the original series when their spinoff has proven the ability to stand on its own. Better Call Saul has forged its own identity, following in the vein of other successful shows like Angel and Frasier.
Still, even if Walter never shows up in Better Call Saul, the series has expanded on the world of Breaking Bad. There have intriguing moments of foreshadowing, in addition to adding context to memorable quotes. There are certainly ways that a cameo by Cranston could work, particularly if it’s more comedic and unconventional, but it wouldn’t be necessary. Critics and audiences have fallen for Better Call Saul on its own merits thanks to a revelatory performance by Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler and Bob Odenkirk’s deftness at adding new depths to his morally murky protagonist. The good news for fans who would want to see one last appearance by the anti-hero of Breaking Bad is that Cranston is more than up for the task.
Source: Collider