Much like the culinary prowess of its compelling villain, the build-up to Hannibal season 3 has required a delicate balance of ingredients. The threat of the show’s cancellation loomed over fans until NBC optioned the gritty thriller for a third season, and tidbits surrounding the latest additions to its cast dripped through slowly until EW finally debuted the upcoming season’s first teaser trailer earlier today. All in all, our appetites have been whetted. Now we’re ready to eat.
The third year of NBC’s dark, brooding show finds troubled FBI profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) in hot pursuit of the charismatic Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen). The dark, shadowy teaser only hints at the extent of Will’s determination in tracking down the cannibalistic serial killer. Remaining loyal to the tone of the show, the teaser avoids flashy extravagance, opting instead to burn out slow with scattered shots of Graham and Lecter engaged in a cat and mouse game that’s thought to be in Florence, Italy.
Earlier this year at Comic-Con, creator Bryan Fuller announced that the upcoming season will harvest its storylines from many of Thomas Harris’ source novels. Hannibal and Hannibal Rising are to be the main inspiration for the first clutch of episodes, before the plotlines from Red Dragon are introduced mid-way through. This lines up perfectly with the recent addition of Richard Armitage to the cast, as he is locked in to play the Francis Dolarhyde character – aka The Tooth Fairy from Red Dragon.
Harris’ most popular novel involving the murderous Dr. Lecter is arguably, The Silence Of The Lambs, which Jonathan Demme brought to the screen in his 1990 adaptation. Responsible for introducing Lecter to the movie-going public, it also featured the first on-screen appearance of FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling, played by Jodie Foster. While Foster said no to reprising the role for the Hannibal movie sequel – that doesn’t mean Starling won’t crop up on the small screen. Fuller teased fans at Comic-con that the “second-most famous” character of the entire property is expected to appear in the third season.
We’ll find out who that is when Hannibal returns this summer.