The stodgy sequel to an all-time great thriller rewarded with a prequel and no less than 3 reboots evades the streaming authorities

For the first time in what feels like forever, there’s no film or television projects focusing on either Hannibal Lecter or the world he inhabits in active development, which would be a welcome change of pace were it not for the fact Bryan Fuller’s acclaimed episodic psychological thriller frustratingly remains off the airwaves.

To be fair, we’ve had more than enough of pop culture’s favorite cannibal to last a lifetime, so much so that Michael Mann’s Manhunter almost always – and very unfairly – gets left out of the conversation in favor of Anthony Hopkins’ undeniably iconic take on the sociopathic menace.

The Silence of the Lambs deserves its place as one of cinema’s all-time greats – and the same applies to Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy’s three-season run in regards to small screen canon – but Ridley Scott’s Hannibal was indicative of what was to come after the legacy sequel 10 years in the making did big business at the box office while still failing to live up to expectations, as well as taking a critical bashing.

Undeterred, Hopkins returned for prequel Red Dragon, before yet another prequel landed in Hannibal Rising, prior to both NBC’s Hannibal and short-lived Clarice, the latter of which was always doomed to fail because making a Silence of the Lambs-adjacent series that’s legally forbidden from mentioning Dr. Lecter is incredibly stupid.

Nonetheless, Hannibal has roared back into life on-demand per FlixPatrol, with Starz subscribers the latest to crack open the middling follow-up’s skull and feast on the delicious gooey innards within; but if it ain’t season 4 of Fuller’s masterpiece, then we’re happy to let the good doctor rest for a while.