‘Hannibal’ Season 3 Adds ‘True Blood’’s Rutina Wesley as ‘Red Dragon’ Character

Just yesterday ‘Hannibal’ season 3 served up a hearty appetizer in the form of its first trailer, but it seems Bryan Fuller’s dark and dreamy drama has yet another bloody morsel to offer. ‘True Blood’ star Rutina Wesley will de-fang for an arc as another major ‘Red Dragon’ character, but what’s her connection to ‘The Hobbit’ star Richard Armitage’s Francis Dolarhyde?

TVLine broke news of Wesley’s casting, her first since ‘True Blood’ placed a final nail in its seven-season coffin, clarifying that the erstwhile Tara Thornton will play the blind Reba McClane, a co-worker of Francis “Tooth Fairy” Dolarhyde who catches the killer’s eye, and whose romantic interest proves key in connecting Francis to his remaining humanity.

Joan Allen played the part in Michael Mann’s 1986 ‘Manhunter’ adaptation of Thomas Harris’ first Hannibal Lecter novel ‘Red Dragon,’ with Emily Watson taking the role in Brett Ratner’s 2002 adaptation of the same name, opposite Ralph Fiennes’ Francis Dolarhyde.

Most recently adding Nina Arianda as Will’s new love interest Molly, we know of ‘Hannibal’ season 3 that Gillian Anderson has been upgraded to series regular as Dr. Bedelia du Maurier, last cryptically seen flying alongside Hannibal in the post-credits tag of season 2 finale bloodbath “Mizumono.” Joe Anderson will take over from Michael Pitt as Mason Verger, while Raul Esparza will return to the role of Dr. Frederick Chilton, and Bryan Fuller suggested Eddie Izzard could return to the role of the late Dr. Abel Gideon as well.

The new season will pick up sometime later with Hannibal and Bedelia’s new life on the lam, also incorporating such literary Thomas Harris figures as Mason Verger’s living assistant Cordell, and ‘Hannibal’ novel character Inspector Rinaldo Pazzi. Additionally, ‘Batman vs. Superman’ and ‘The Wolverine’ star Tao Okamoto has been confirmed to play the role of Hannibal’s “aunt” Lady Murasaki (or her attendant “Chiyo,” it’s a bit confusing).

We’ve included the ‘Hannibal’ season 3 trailer again below, but what say you? Are you excited to see the NBC drama tackle ‘Red Dragon’ when the series returns this summer? How might Rutina Wesley’s Reba differ from previous iterations? Give us your darkly delicious predictions for NBC’s ‘Hannibal’ in the comments!