Hannibal season four. It’s on everyone’s minds. We’ve received some tantalizing hints over the years about what a Hannibal season four might hold if it ever returns to our screens. (A quest Fannibals, fans of Hannibal have been on for nearly a decade.) During Fan Expo Boston’s Hannibal panel, Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen thought a little bit about what season four of Hannibal might look like. Although, ultimately, the pair didn’t want to speculate too much on its contents, since that part is up to Bryan Fuller, the show’s creator, they seemed to imagine that though some time would pass between Hannibal season three and season four in the show’s reality, that time skip may not be fully aligned to the real time that has passed in our world.
One common refrain about Hannibal season four is that Bryan Fuller’s idea for it means the show could return at any time. Whatever idea Fuller has for Hannibal season four, it is built to encapsulate any amount of years that pass in our reality. But according to Hannibal‘s stars, that doesn’t literally mean that season four will take place a decade (or however long) after Hannibal‘s season three finale.
Mads Mikkelsen shared at Fan Expo Boston’s Hannibal panel, “I think it would be boring to see them a decade later. I’m fine with a couple of years. Obviously, they have to heal after the fall. But… a decade, we’d be missing out on something crucial.” Unless, of course, Hugh Dancy chimes in, “They haven’t been together, right? Unless Will’s been in a hospital.” But Mikkelsen seemed a little dubious about that. “So they landed on different ships?”
Mikkelsen is obviously envisioning Hannibal season four and its possible time skip through the lens of the story. While Dancy is a bit more pragmatic. “It’s nice of Mads to imagine it, but I’m not sure that only two years having passed is very realistic at this point.” But he concedes, “Maybe it was just a rough two years.”
We bet that’s a distinct possiblity. Ultimately, we’ll need Bryan Fuller to chime in on this one. But however long of a time skip happens between Hannibal season three and Hannibal season four, fans of the series will happily accept it. We just need a studio to join us at the table for dinner.