Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller endorses a fan petition calling for season 4 to finally happen. Thomas Harris first created the indelible character of Hannibal Lecter in his 1981 novel Red Dragon. Lecter would later achieve iconic pop culture status thanks to Anthony Hopkins’ chilling portrayal in the Oscar-winning 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs.
Hopkins’ depiction of Lecter indeed for a long time seemed like an indisputably definitive portrayal. Then along came the NBC show Hannibal, starring Mads Mikkelsen as Lecter. Drawing on story elements from various Lecter-centered works, Hannibal became a critical darling and grew a passionately loyal but unfortunately small fan following. Sadly all the critical plaudits and fan love weren’t enough to keep the show alive beyond three seasons.
Hannibal may indeed have gone off the air in 2015 but fans have never given up on season 4 some day happening. Recently one fan even posted a Hannibal season 4 petition to Change.org, and immediately received a sign-on from a very important person: Hannibal creator Fuller himself. Fuller then endorsed the petition on Twitter, helping it garner nearly 5,000 signatures in just a few days. The petition’s argument, aimed at streaming services HBO Max, Netflix and Prime Video, reads in part:
Many shows, even those with similar subject matter such as Dexter, have come back after extended periods of being off air. Now, with more streaming services and openly LGBTQ+ media being produced, finding the right home for Hannibal's continuation is right around the corner. The cast, crew and Fannibals are ready!
Hannibal season 3 of course ended on a wild cliffhanger, with the main characters Lecter and Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) seeming to have died while falling off a cliff in a passionate embrace, and Lecter’s psychiatrist Bedelia (Gillian Anderson) left waiting at the dinner table where the feast was supposed to be her own severed leg. But if Fuller’s intention with that cliffhanger was to generate interest in the show having life beyond NBC’s cancellation, the ploy didn’t work, as there have thus far been no takers. Rights issues related to the original Harris characters unfortunately are one issue keeping Hannibal season 4 from happening, but certainly those can be worked out if some streaming service or network is willing to shell out the necessary money. And as the new Hannibal season 4 petition itself states, if a show like Dexter can get a second life well beyond its own original run, certainly there’s room for Hannibal to get another chance.
Indeed Hannibal was somewhat of a misfit show in its own original run on NBC. Not only did it tackle very daring themes for network TV, it also sported an incredibly creepy tone and often dealt with truly gruesome and unnerving imagery. In fact this ahead-of-its-time quality is likely why Hannibal developed such a loyal following in its abbreviated network life. Seven years on from the show’s cancellation, the small-screen landscape has only opened up more, allowing for even greater exploration of previously-taboo themes and images. Certainly Fuller is open to doing more Hannibal, as he more-or-less confirmed by endorsing this new fan petition (indeed at one point he said he had a seven-season arc planned for the show). The cast members of Hannibal have also, at various times over the last seven years, expressed interest in continuing. So all the pieces seem to be in place for Hannibal season 4 to happen, except for the sticking point of there thus far being no network willing to take on the project. But perhaps this latest fan petition will convince some executive to take the plunge.
Source: Change.org (via Bryan Fuller/Twitter)