‘Hannibal’ Cancellation Update: Bryan Fuller Talks New Home, Clarice Starling in Season 4

The cancellation of NBC’s Hannibal left us shocked, shocked (well, not that shocked), though given the climate of revivals and rescues, it seemed resoundingly likely the darkly delicious drama might find a new home. Now, series creator Bryan Fuller and producers are on the hunt for a new network, while long-standing rights issues with Clarice Starling may have impacted Season 4’s chances.

Bryan Fuller’s initial statement on Hannibal’s cancellation seemed confident that “a hungry cannibal can always dine again,” to which the creator elaborated to TVLine that “My idea for Season 4 was perhaps one of the coolest yet, so I would love to do it in some capacity. It would have explored the Hannibal-Will Graham relationship in a much deeper fashion than the series ever has before.”

BuzzFeed, meanwhile, points out that Fuller had previously spoken of Season 4 introducing Silence of the Lambs character Clarice Starling (should the rights return from Lifetime), while The Hollywood Reporter goes further to suggest “there may have been a rights issue at the center of the decision to end the series as Fuller had wanted to introduce Clarice Starling in season four.”

While Fuller has confirmed that Hannibal will still appear at Comic-Con 2015, producer Martha De Laurentiis urged fans over Twitter to keep calm and #SaveHannibal:

It’s difficult to say how quickly news of Hannibal’s ultimate fate might arrive (many have pointed to Amazon, given the existing streaming rights), but have fans any real reason to be worried? Should Clarice Starling be the issue, could the story proceed without one of Thomas Harris’ most iconic characters, or a stand-in, as has been previously suggested?