Breaking Bad is returning with a sequel movie titled El Camino, but which established characters will be along for the ride? Reports of a Breaking Bad movie began to surface last year, but the project was typically secretive in nature, and with the Better Call Saul spinoff also in production, it wasn't easy to gauge how much truth was behind the rumors. Finally, in February 2019, the Breaking Bad movie was officially confirmed, even though many of the show's main cast had already revealed as much.
Such is the level of cloak and dagger surrounding the Breaking Bad movie, Bob Odenkirk recently claimed that the entire film had been shot in secret and, as if to confirm that story, Netflix revealed the first trailer for El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie earlier this week. This short teaser sees the return of Charles Baker as Skinny Pete, an old dealer associate of Jesse Pinkman's. Under police interrogation, Pete refuses to tell the Feds anything about where Jesse could be, although he claims to have no idea anyway. With the meth lab bust all over the news and Jesse on the run, El Camino's story is neatly set up in time for the film's October release on Netflix.
After featuring in the teaser, there's a strong possibility Skinny Peter could make a further appearance in El Camino, but who else from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul might return? Taking into account their current status in the narrative and suitability for the story, here are the Breaking Bad characters who could star alongside Aaron Paul in El Camino.
Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill
Bob Odenkirk's comments regarding the Breaking Bad movie have implied that the actor has no involvement in El Camino, but it's impossible to take anything at face value and an appearance by Saul would make sense in the context of Better Call Saul. Following the breakdown of his business relationship with Walter White, Saul goes into hiding as Gene and begins working in a shopping mall Cinnabon. Better Call Saul has explored this post-Breaking Bad period in Saul's life and has teased that Saul's secret identity could be exposed at any moment
With the authorities chasing down Jesse in El Camino, the movie could continue Better Call Saul's Gene timeline and explore what happens when Saul himself gets busted. Will he team up with Jesse? Or play the law and try to negotiate in exchange for helping police catch the runaway meth cook? In either case, Saul is the strongest connecting thread running throughout the Breaking Bad franchise and El Camino may feel incomplete without him.
Skyler and Walt Jr.
Walter White's family seemed to truly move on in Breaking Bad's series finale, putting the shadow of Heisenberg firmly behind them and bringing Skyler and Walt Jr.'s story to a natural conclusion. However, Skyler arguably has some unfinished business in the world of Breaking Bad. During the show's prime, Anna Gunn's character was lambasted by viewers and seen as an obstacle to Walt's drug manufacturing adventures. The Skyler hate reached fever pitch in Breaking Bad's later seasons but, once the series had come to an end, many viewers found themselves reevaluating Skyler's character and finding a new appreciation for her position.
It's fair to say that with time and analysis, fan attitudes towards Skyler have become far more positive and a return in El Camino could give Walt's long-suffering wife a glorious return, as well as an ending that's free of the irrational negativity Skyler received when Breaking Bad first aired.
Badger
Where there's Skinny Pete, Badger isn't likely to be far behind. Jesse's other main drug dealer pal was a peripheral figure in Breaking Bad and mostly used as a source of comic relief, particularly when trying to figure out whether a customer was a Narc. If El Camino finds Jesse running from the law, he'll surely turn to his few remaining (alive) friends and this could signal a return for Matthew Lee Jones as Badger.
Aaron Paul mysteriously posted a Breaking Bad scene on his Twitter account, claiming it held a relevance to the forthcoming movie. The clip featured an exchange between Walt and a badly-injured Jesse, who yells at his former mentor for taking away everything and everyone that he cherished. With so few people left to turn to, Badger and Skinny Pete may know more about Jesse than the El Camino trailer lets on.
Lydia
After making a deal with the Nazis who imprisoned Jesse, Walt gets revenge on Lydia by swapping her coffee sweetener with poisonous ricin and Breaking Bad's final episode shows Lydia looking distinctly unwell, clearly suffering the effects of Walt's assassination attempt. However, the audience doesn't actually see Lydia die and orally-ingested ricin isn't necessarily fatal, depending on the dosage. For all Walt knew, Lydia might've decided to cut down on the coffee during his exile and not consumed enough of the substance to die from it.
If Lydia did somehow survive Walt's ricin, she could make for a strong antagonist in El Camino, perhaps seeking revenge against Jesse or hoping to silence him and keep her name away from the police investigation. Lydia has already reappeared in Better Call Saul, so an appearance in El Camino is very much on the cards.
Jesse's Family
Breaking Bad introduced Jesse Pinkman's parents and brother at an early stage, but the trio appear sparingly, more or less vanishing in later seasons. Jesse's relationship with his family is rocky to say the least, and while his mother demonstrates some affection, Jesse's father clearly despises his eldest son with a vengeance, with the idealized middle-class family essentially seeking to ignore the existence of their drug-dealer black sheep son.
However, if El Camino is putting Jesse front and center of the story, it would make sense to dive deeper into his blood relatives and explore a side of the character that was only briefly touched upon in Breaking Bad. Jesse's family story also remains somewhat incomplete. By buying their house, Jesse did manage to gain a measure of revenge against his estranged parents, but Jesse's obvious love for his brother goes unresolved and could be a fruitful avenue for El Camino to venture down.
Huell Babineaux
Huell's laid back attitude and love of money made him a cult figure in Breaking Bad and fans were rewarded when the character reappeared in Better Call Saul, helping Jimmy pull off several cons that included embarrassing his own brother at a legal hearing. Not only would a Huell cameo be a fan-pleasing moment, but viewers would also appreciate an update on Huell's life after his tenure working for Saul Goodman came to an end. Jesse, meanwhile, might have a personal score to settle with Huell after his role in the poisoning of a loved one.
Brock
Jesse becomes somewhat of a surrogate father to Brock after starting a relationship with fellow addict, Andrea, but the youngster gets caught up in Heisenberg's meth crusade and is used as a pawn to manipulate Jesse. At the end of Breaking Bad, Brock's fate is unknown, but his mother is tragically murdered by Todd (affectionately known as Meth Damon) in Breaking Bad's final season as a punishment for an escape attempt.
The final time viewers see Jesse, he's speeding away from the Nazis' base and, knowing that he was somewhat responsible for causing Andrea's death, one of Jesse's priorities upon gaining freedom would surely be to check in on Brock, possibly even caring for him if no one else was there to do so. As such, Brock could be an important figure in El Camino. One stumbling block, however, is that the movie appears to be set only a short time after Breaking Bad, while the young actor who played Brock would've aged 6 years.
Jane Margolis
Aside from characters who are still alive within the world of Breaking Bad, it's possible that a selection of deceased figures could also make a return in some capacity, with Krysten Ritter's Jane Margolis one of the first names that comes to mind. Jane was Jesse's partner during Breaking Bad's second season, but the pair's love of drugs soon dominated their relationship. Jane died after an overdose, with Walt passively watching on as she struggled and choked.
Jane's death had a profound impact on Jesse and after escaping his imprisonment, he's unlikely to be in a sound mental state, which could allow for hallucinations and visions of killed-off characters. Ritter has been widely rumored to be appearing in El Camino since the movie was first mentioned in 2018 and the actress remains linked to the project even following the official title reveal.
Walter White
He may have died in the series finale, but can there be Breaking Bad without Walter White? As with Jane, any appearance by Walt would surely arrive in the form of a flashback, hallucination or dream sequence, but audiences would no doubt be grateful just to witness Bryan Cranston returning to his most famous character. While it's clear that El Camino will focus on Jesse, the pairing of Cranston and Pinkman was arguably the soul of Breaking Bad and an exchange between them, even an imaginary one, could prove a standout moment of the new movie.
As for Cranston, the actor has previously expressed a desire to appear in any proposed Breaking Bad movie, but has remained coy on whether or not that wish would become a reality. Thus far at least, any role for Walter White in El Camino remains firmly under wraps.
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie streams October 11th on Netflix.