‘Better Call Saul’: Giancarlo Esposito Shares Gus Fring Spinoff Idea
There’s just one season left of Better Call Saul, the show following well-meaning lawyer Jimmy McGill as he evolves into “criminal” attorney Saul Goodman. But could there be other Breaking Bad spinoffs in the future? While nothing is confirmed, Giancarlo Esposito says he would love to bring back his character Gus Fring, the Chilean businessman with a double life as a drug kingpin.
Giancarlo Esposito’s comments on a possible Gus Fring spinoff are hopeful
In an interview with Metro.co.uk, Esposito spoke about his role in Better Call Saul. The series will end in 2022 after a seven-year run on AMC. But if possible, Esposito would like to further explore the life of the Los Pollos Hermanos restaurateur. He shared an idea for a spinoff titled Rise of Gus that would dig into “what world he came from and how he got to be where he is in the world that we see him in today.”
Fans would probably tune in, as many have already shared their interest in seeing a Gus spinoff. The character also made show creator Vince Gilligan’s list of people he’d consider for a spinoff. But at the same time, Gilligan said he’s wary of making another Breaking Bad offshoot.
“I have a hard time picturing us actually doing that, not because the characters couldn’t carry their own shows, they absolutely could in my opinion,” he told The Radio Times. “Just because at a certain point, I fear it would begin to smack of…we’re chewing our cud twice, we’re going to the well a bit too much.”
“I guess the short answer is never say never,” he continued. “But I don’t think we are spending a lot of time thinking about additional spin-offs because I think we want to get through this show, we want to make it as good as we can and we want to maintain its integrity from start to finish. We don’t want our reach to exceed our grasp.”
But if he had to pick someone for a spinoff, he told The Sydney Morning Herald it’d be Kim Wexler.
The news comes as ‘Better Call Saul’ films its next season
Esposito’s comments come as the cast of Better Call Saul continues to film the sixth season. As the final season, it’s expected to show what ultimately pushes him to become Saul and his fate after fleeing Alburquerque to start over.
Bob Odenkirk, who plays the lawyer, has said he’s not yet aware of the full plot, but he’s heard it’s intense.
“I’m finding out script by script [how the season goes],” he told Collider. “I’m told that the wheels come off in Season 6 and it explodes in a million directions. That sounds to me like there’s a fair amount of violence, but I don’t know for a fact.”
Esposito added to TV Insider that there are “some really exciting storylines” in Better Call Saul Season 6. “I think all our [jaws] drop every time we get a script, so it’s exciting to be with it and in the mix on it,” he continued.
“We’re going to have this sense of loss and missing something when this is done,” he said of the end of Better Call Saul. “It’s been a great ride. But we have a long way to go.”
When does ‘Better Call Saul’ return?
Filming on Better Call Saul has been in the works for months, after facing delays because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. A release date is still unknown, but it is expected to premiere sometime in 2022.
