Bryan Fuller's Hannibal TV show made many alterations to the franchise's established continuity, including race or gender-swapping several characters. Despite what some "purists" might claim, changing the gender or race of a character can be a good thing. In some cases it can open up new opportunities for stories involving that character, and even when the character is used the same way as before, doing a race or gender swap can add needed diversity to the cast list. Nowadays, many viewers want movies and TV shows that look more like reality, and in America, that reality includes many people beyond just white men.

Of course, many will cry foul at such changes, as did some with the race and gender swapped Hannibal characters. But the truth is, absolutely none of them suffered for the worse due to their respective change, and in the process the world of Hannibal got much more representative of the population at large. It's a win-win situation.

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For those interested, here's the full rundown of Hannibal characters who got either race or gender swapped on their way to NBC. None seem to have gotten both swapped, although there's always a chance to do that if Hannibal season 4 ever gets made.

Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne)

Hannibal - Laurence Fishburne as Jack Crawford

Jack Crawford is the head of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit in Thomas Harris' universe, first appearing in the novel Red Dragon, before later taking part in The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal books. He dies of a heart attack in the latter, after a period of health problems. Crawford was inspired by John E. Douglas, who held the same position in the FBI, and wrote the book Netflix's Mindhunter is based on.

Douglas is a white man, and Crawford had always been portrayed as white prior to the Hannibal TV show, being played by Dennis Farina in Manhunter, Scott Glenn in The Silence of the Lambs, and Harvey Keitel in Red Dragon. However, Crawford's race has never really been a major aspect of his character, and hiring popular black actor Laurence Fishburne to play the role in Hannibal didn't really change it in any substantial way. In fact, most agree that casting Fishburne was a great move, as his deep voice, large physical stature, and general gravitas worked perfectly as a "boss" figure, and also enabled him to have a believable fight with Hannibal during season 2.

Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas)

Caroline Dhavernas as Alana Bloom in Hannibal

Alana Bloom is one case where revamping a character for TV enabled that character to become much more interesting. Alan Bloom in Harris' Red Dragon novel really isn't distinctive or memorable a character, and has no real personal involvement with Will outside of working on the titular case. He also never met Hannibal until after he was in custody. By contrast, Alana, played by Caroline Dhavernas, is much more involved in the story of the Hannibal show, and engages in complex personal relationships with both Will and Hannibal. Alana Bloom is an all-around improvement on Alan, and one can only hope she features heavily if there's ever a Hannibal season 4.

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Freddie Lounds (Lara Jean Chorostecki)

hannibal season 1 episode 2 freddie lounds

In the Red Dragon novel, Freddy Lounds is a slimy male tabloid reporter described as being a bit rat-like, and who dies near the end of the book at the hands of the titular killer, Francis Dolarhyde. For the Hannibal TV show, Bryan Fuller re-imagined the character as Fredrica "Freddie" Lounds, a female tabloid reporter played by Lara Jean Chorostecki. Beyond just looks, Freddie isn't nearly as off-putting and unlikeable as Freddy generally was, as played by Stephen Lang in Manhunter and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Red Dragon. She's still the type more concerned about a scoop than morality though, and still regularly annoys Will Graham and those investigating the Chesapeake Ripper case. In the biggest change of all, Lounds survives the TV series.

Dr. Frederick Chilton (Raul Esparza)

Raul Esparza as Dr. Frederick Chilton in Hannibal

Dr. Frederick Chilton is the head of the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where Hannibal Lecter spends his days after being captured. Chilton appears fairly briefly in both Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs books, and makes a lasting impression by being an insufferably smug jerk. He's later implied to have been killed by Hannibal between Silence and the Hannibal book. The character is best known for Anthony Heald's portrayal in The Silence of the Lambs, although he also appeared in Manhunter, played by soap star Benjamin Hendrickson.

Chilton's race swap for the Hannibal TV show is a bit less noticeable visually than Jack Crawford's, but actor Raul Esparza is Cuban-American, while previous actors were non-Hispanic white men. As with Crawford, the race change really doesn't change anything major about the character, as Esparza's Chilton is just as much of an unscrupulous weasel as the Heald version. In a big alteration, Chilton ends up receiving the fate Freddie got in Red Dragon, although he survives.

Beverly Katz (Hettienne Park)

Will and Beverly Katz in Hannibal

Like Alan Bloom, Beverly Katz is another investigator with the Behavioral Sciences Unit in Red Dragon. She's a more memorable character, but she's still not a huge part of the story. In the Hannibal TV series, Beverly was played by Hettienne Katz, an American actress of South Korean descent. Again, showing how little the race of characters often matters to stories, Beverly becoming Asian doesn't really change her much. She's still a witty, highly competent person, and is actually even more important on TV, as she's one of the first to learn Hannibal's secret. Sadly, she loses her life for it, a change from the book, in which she survived.

Reba McClane (Rutina Wesley)

Rutina Wesley in Hannibal Season 3 Episode 9

In the Hannibal TV series, Reba McClane serves the same role as she does in the Red Dragon book and its prior adaptations, a blind woman who falls for Francis Dollarhyde, aka The Tooth Fairy killer. Reba was previously portrayed by white actresses Joan Allen in Manhunter and Emily Watson in Red Dragon, before black True Blood alum Rutina Wesley was cast in the role for Hannibal season 3's remake of the Red Dragon story. As in the book and movie, Reba survives Francis' rampage.

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