Hannibal fans hungry for more info about the show’s third season got fed full of info at the cast’s appearance at Comic-Con yesterday.
Executive producer Bryan Fuller revealed that Raul Esparza will return to the show and reprise his role as the previously-presumed dead Dr. Frederick Chilton. Esparaza was on hand at the panel to answer questions as well.
“I can’t believe how much people fell in love with Chilton this season,” Esparza effused. “I love playing the part because he’s a total douchebag.”
Fuller also said that the new season would introduce more characters from the novels. These include Commander Pazzi, Lady Murasaki, and Cordell.
Finally, the first clue about the new season’s location was revealed as the cuisine for Season 3 was described as “Italian.” As for Hannibal-Heads who were wondering how the show will pick-up, the season premiere takes place one year later. Episode 4 will be the key episode in terms of filling in what exactly happened and will predominantly feature Mads Mikkelsen and Gillian Anderson.
“The entire first half of the season is relatively FBI-light. It’s all about the pursuit of Hannibal,” Fuller said. He said that they wanted they used the time-jump technique as way to be “vague with who survived that bloody, bloody night [in the Season 2 finale].”
Other highlights?
– If the show is renewed for a Season 4, it would mean that the character of Clarice would have to be introduced and as a result, rights to use material from Silence of the Lambs would need to be obtained from MGM.
– Fuller was vague when asked if there was a romantic nature to the relationship shared between Hannibal and Will. “It’s not necessarily a sexual love, but they absolutely have a pure, genuine love for each other, which is why this situation becomes so complicated,” Fuller reportedly said.
