Despite originally being canceled over half a decade ago, Hannibal is arguably more popular now than it’s ever been since NBC first wielded the axe and yanked it from the airwaves in June 2015 following consistently disappointing ratings.
Without a doubt one of the most visually stunning and ambitious shows in recent memory, fans were devastated that Will Graham and Dr. Lecter didn’t get the chance to continue their complicated relationship in a fourth season. Every once in a while, speculation rears its head about a possible revival, but with a prequel show focused on Clarice Starling heading to CBS, it seems as though Hannibal’s chances of making a return have become perilously slim.
However, the psychological thriller has proven to be a massive hit on Netflix, and quickly became one of the streaming service’s most-watched TV shows when it arrived last month. No stranger to reviving projects that have been canceled elsewhere, there were several changes made to some of Hannibal’s technical aspects by the company that led many fans to believe that a full-blown revival could be on the cards.
While that might remain a pipe-dream for the foreseeable future, showrunner Bryan Fuller admitted in a recent interview that he still hasn’t given up on the idea for a potential fourth season, and with the cast’s major players revealing on numerous occasions that they’d be game to return, he’s happy to wait until all of the pieces fall into place no matter how long it takes.
“It will be interesting to see what happens with the show moving forward or whether there is ever to be a Silence of the Lambs miniseries with this cast. The great thing about the idea, with members of the cast in terms of where we’re going, is that if we are going to take five years, six years, seven years or what have you and everyone’s still interested in coming back then that’s just how long they’ve been on the lam, as it were. Then the story picks up from that point and we’ll adapt.”
Fuller is clearly willing to play the long game when it comes to a possible revival, and with Netflix now housing the show, there’s every chance it could happen in the not-too-distant future. After all, with the streaming wars in full swing and new competitors arriving on a regular basis to battle for subscribers, resurrecting a critically-acclaimed series with a built-in fanbase like Hannibal would be a surefire way to generate some huge buzz.