Hannibal fans, get ready to drown your sorrows in buckets of Chianti, as two of the most promising avenues for the series’ continuation have been shut down. Sadly, we won’t get to see Mads Mikkelsen’s haute cannibal Hannibal Lecter ruining people’s lives on either Netflix or Amazon. We’re still welcome to get into the Will Graham mindset to imagine that it happened, but it will only exist in our minds.
Following the show’s cancelation by NBC last month, it looked as if Hannibal might find a new home for Season 4, and two of the best options that would likely retain the series’ top-notch quality were the streaming services Netflix and Amazon, neither of which would have to worry about the show’s dwindling ratings in the same way that NBC did. But according to creator Bryan Fuller himself, who shared the news on via Twitter, neither one was interested enough.
Fuller, who is no stranger to having his beloved creations stripped from him by networks, is at least still optimistic that someone will snatch this brilliant horror drama up. As some place should, since it’s easily one of the most beautiful and intelligent series out there. But its low ratings, which are abysmal for the currently ongoing Season 3, will be a source of contention with network heads, who surely don’t want to drop major dollars on the show’s lush aesthetic just to have it ignored by the majority of the country.
I wouldn’t think that Hulu would get on board here, but Showtime getting involved with Twin Peaks could be a sign that they’re willing to put their money on critical acclaim over surefire success. On the other hand, Bryan Fuller’s newest project, an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, got picked up recently by Starz, where series are often pleasing to the old eyes and brains. There’s always HBO or AMC, as well.
Complicating things is that the actors’ contracts recently lapsed, meaning everyone involved is free to sign on to other projects, without Hannibal taking superiority. But Fuller and his creative team had already mapped out parts of Season 4, which might have seen the iconic Clarice Starling come into play at some point, barring negotiations. So it’d be a damned shame if we don’t get to see more form Hannibal, considering all the hard work that goes into it, but it’s hard to complain about everything we’ve been given so far.
Check out the rest of Hannibal’s Season 3 airing this summer. Give it the ratings it deserves, people, and maybe some outlet will secure its future.
