‘Hannibal’ Season 4: Is a Revival Still Happening?
In terms of writing, acting, and visual style, there are few TV shows that can equal Hannibal. The horror-thriller series captivated fans for three seasons before being unceremoniously canceled.
Still, fans have been holding out hope for an eventual series revival — and according to a new interview with the series creator, there could be a reason to hope that within the next few years, viewers will once again be treated to the delightfully creepy thrills of a new season of Hannibal.
When did ‘Hannibal’ debut on television?
The character of Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist turned serial killer, has been around in media for decades. He was created by Thomas Harris and made popular through a series of books including Red Dragon and Hannibal.
Of course, most viewers became familiar with the character of Hannibal Lecter through the movie The Silence of the Lambs. However, the TV series Hannibal featured a whole new side of the infamous killer and revealed a man who was able to live a terrifying double life.
Hannibal premiered in early 2013 and received immediate critical acclaim. The show focused on a talented young criminal profiler named Will Graham, played by Hugh Dancy. He is tasked with working with the brilliant forensic psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter, who, unbeknownst to him, is actually a serial killer with a predilection for cannibalism.
Over time, Graham and Lecter developed a close bond, which threatened to expose Lecter’s shady double life. The show featured talented actors such as Gillian Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, and Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal Lecter.
Why was ‘Hannibal’ canceled?
The show won multiple awards, including several Saturn Awards. However, the fans really made the show the cult classic that it is today, watching and rewatching episodes and analyzing every detail, from the costumes to the intricacies of the dialogue. Well before the third and final season, Hannibal was considered to be one of the greatest TV shows of all time — and a landmark in the horror genre.
Sadly, after three seasons, Hannibal was canceled. Reportedly, the cancellation was due to low ratings. It is true that the show catered to a very specific demographic, and many speculated that the reason the show was canceled after only three seasons was that the show was, quite simply, too artistically perfect. Still, ever since the show’s cancellation, fans have been speculating and hoping about a possible revival.
‘Hannibal’ might potentially get revived for a fourth season
Recently, Hannibal‘s series creator, Bryan Fuller, opened up about whether the iconic series could be returning in the near future. He admitted that a revival would require a lot of planning and coordinating, including getting licensing rights from several individuals as well as corporations. Fuller also stated that they would need a network to extend a deal for him and his team to get to work on new episodes — although Fuller’s preference is for the show to be revived by the streaming platform Netflix.
“What I love about Netflix platforming the show now is there’s an opportunity for it to be seen as a Netflix show and maybe that will reconfigure their appetite, so to speak,” Fuller stated. Unfortunately, he admitted that he hasn’t opened up a dialogue with Netflix officials yet. There is one bit of good news for fans of the series, however — Fuller did reveal that he has been in talks with the main actors, including Dancy and Mikkelsen about what could possibly happen in the fourth season of Hannibal, and that he is “excited” about the possible storylines. For now, Hannibal fans should stay on high alert for potential good news.
