Bryan Fuller Reveals Which ‘Hannibal’ Character Cooked [SPOILER’S] Leg

The Hannibal series finale left fans salivating for more, but sadly we were only left with a cooked leg.

In the final episode, (spoiler alert) creator Bryan Fuller ended his show on a literal cliffhanger with Hugh Dancy’s Will Graham and Mads Mikkelsen’s Hannibal embracing as they fell off the side of a cliff. Although the fall seemed near impossible to survive, fans have theories and hopes that both killers lived. But in a post-credits scene, we got a little more to chew on.

Gillian Anderson’s Bedelia Du Maurier sat at a dinner table in front of her very own cooked leg. But who prepared such a feast? Some interpreted it was Bedelia herself, but Fuller (though amused) shot that possibility down. He’d previously hinted at the possibility that Hannibal’s Uncle Robert (a role he offered to David Bowie) could be serving her the leg.

Finally, the mystery's been revealed. In an interview with Fuller about the upcoming Season 3 DVD release of Hannibal, Fuller told me the name of the chef responsible for Bedelia’s leg: Hannibal himself.

When I asked Fuller what the recipe was for the leg, he said, “I have to ask [food consultant] Janice Poon that because basically our conversation was, it has to look like the most beautiful dish Hannibal Lecter has ever prepared.” Wait, what? Just to be sure, I doubled checked. So it definitely was Hannibal who prepared it? Fuller’s response:

Oh yeah, yeah. But the fun of it is, people have interpreted it the other way that she cut off her own leg and cooked it herself. And that’s also fun. So I think you can choose your own ending, until you are proven definitely wrong. [Laughs].

This must mean Hannibal survived the fall. There's hardly any way he could've had time to find Bedelia, cut off her leg and so cook it so eloquently between his planned escape from the prison van and the time he met up with Will to kill Francis Dolarhyde. Does this also confirm Will is alive?

Fuller has hinted at Hannibal's survival before, but he's never been this forthright. It shouldn't come as the biggest surprise though, since we know Fuller has hopes for a Season 4, and how could a show go on without it's titular character? Stayed tuned for more from Fuller on the Season 3 finale and his ideas for a Silence of the Lambs reboot when I publish my full interview with him tomorrow.

The Hannibal Season 3 DVD is available December 8.