Posted in: NBC, streaming, TV | Tagged: books, bryan fuller, fannibals, hannibal, hannibal lecter, hugh dancy, Lecter, mads mikkelsen, nbc, novels, preview, season 4, teaser, thomas harris, trailer, Will Graham

Hannibal Star Mads Mikkelsen Talks Season 4, Clarifies Kiss Rumor

Published Tue, 20 Apr 2021 12:06:16 -0500

by Ray Flook

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As amazing of a film and television career that Mads Mikkelsen has had and continues to have, we don't think it's a stretch to say that his turn as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Bryan Fuller's take on author Thomas Harris' world (NBC's Hannibal) could probably end up being the one role Mikkelsen will be asked about for the rest on his time left on this mortal coil. And even though the series ended with its third season in 2015, the series still has as dedicated a "Fannibals" fanbase now as it did nearly six years ago- and they're still holding out hope for more.

hannibal — Still image from an episode of Hannibal. Source: NBC

In a recent interview with Vulture about his on-screen career, Mikkelsen was asked about Lecter's dynamic with Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), that moment between the two in the third season finale, his interest in a fourth season, and why being on network television was probably a good thing for the series.

Sorry, Mikkelsen and Dancy Never Filmed a Kissing Scene- Even for the Cutting Room Floor: While understanding the moment deserved that a kiss at least be considered, Mikkelsen revealed that it never came to be. "No, we didn't. Never went for the kiss," the actor revealed. "Bryan loved it, but he was like, 'Too much, guys. It's too obvious.' And he was absolutely right. But I think we were just stuck on that. And a lot of the Fannibals wanted it as well. It's been a subject of homoerotic fan art. And for good reason, because they are so united as twins in many ways. But we never wanted it to be a physical thing. It was something much bigger than that.

Season 3 Was Never Meant to Be "The End" But More of an Evolution of Will and Hannibal's Dynamic: "It had to be that they managed to kill someone together and both have the same sensation. 'Finally, I got him. Finally, Will Graham is me.' They are inseparable at that point," he explained. "We also knew that that was not the ending. We knew that there was a fourth season. We had something more up the sleeve, but then it didn't happen." Considering the show was doing better during its third season run, the show not being picked up for a fourth season surprised many. "It was such a surprise to all of us because we did not have great numbers the first season, so we thought that was it. But we got saved and got a second season. And then in the third season we had much greater numbers. So we thought it was a given we would continue. And it didn't happen."

In Case It Wasn't Clear By Now? Mikkelsen & The Cast Would Definitely Return: Though admitting that working on the series was "brutal because we had long hours" with "texts were high-IQ texts," there's no doubt that the crew would welcome a return to the Hannibal universe. "I would love to go back. Everybody wants to go back, and if there's only one season and we're sure about that, he can finish it in a proper, surprising, stunning way." As for that age-old debate that the series would've been better served on cable or streaming, Mikkelsen sees both sides of the argument. "I've been wondering if we had been on some other platform and could do whatever we wanted, would we have gone more for the graphic stuff and forgotten some of the poetry? Maybe it was a good thing we had to hold back," he explained. "It served the show really well that we didn't go full-blast 'Walking Dead' on it."