Bryan Fuller Still Talking About 'Hannibal' Season 4, Still Getting Our Hopes Up

It's easy to be sad that Hannibal is no more, but it's hard to be angry. The late, great horror series had a passionate fan base, but also a tiny fan base – very few people actually watched this mesmerizing and completely bonkers series and the three seasons NBC gave it were generous. And yet, there has been buzz about a potential fourth season ever since the show's cancelation...buzz that has been continuously stoked by creator and showrunner Bryan Fuller, who has made it perfectly clear that he'd love to return.

In fact, it's hard to grieve the end of this show (which had a pitch-perfect finale) when Fuller keeps on spitballing Hannibal season 4 ideas in public.

Fuller was a guest on the Post Mortem podcast (via Coming Soon), where he reiterated his thanks to NBC giving the series a shot and noted that it wasn't surprising at all that they weren't brought back for a fourth season. However, he did note that it's still possible for more Hannibal, provided that the stars align just right:

I have conversations with [Hannibal executive producer] Martha De Laurentiis. I have conversations with Mads and Hugh. We're all excited about the prospect of returning to the story. There's some hurdles to get through. The rights revert back to Martha in September I believe and then it's a matter of do we do it with Gaumont [production company of Hannibal]? Which would be the only way to do it if we wanted to use those characters...

But what would actually happen in this entirely theoretical fourth season? In the past, Fuller has shown an interest in adapting The Silence of the Lambs and bringing Clarice Starling into the fold, which would be fascinating since the original movie is so iconic and Hannibal has always shown a willingness to completely remix and reinvent author Thomas Harris' work.

However, he has ideas beyond another adaptation. He once again noted that series stars Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy are ready to return (and he has ideas of where their twisted relationship would go next), but he's also been thinking about the supporting cast. Specifically, he'd like to bring back Margot Verger (Katharine Isabelle), the meatpacking heiress who found herself embroiled in some of the series' most intense, operatic, and disgusting subplots. While her storyline essentially ended roughly where her book counterpart's did, Fuller wants to take it further:

I just had a great idea for season 4. There's an interesting next chapter in the relationship between Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter that would be fascinating to unpack. I've shared it with the gentlemen and they're both keen on it. There's a whole storyline that I want to do with Katie Isabelle's character Margot Verger, who we know is mother of the Verger heir and in control of the Verger meat packing industry. I wanted her to be like Joan Crawford at Pepsi saying "don't fuck with me fellas" and just humanize all of the Verger meat packing plants and turn them over to PETA approved... That would definitely be marbled through the season, Margot Verger taking down the meat industry as a hot, powerful lesbian.

Hannibal season 4 probably won't happen, but we can keep dreaming, right? In the meantime, Fuller is back on TV with Starz's American Gods, which every single fan of Hannibal should check out ASAP.