We’ve arguably seen more than enough Hannibal Lecter movies to last us a lifetime, so it seems a little ironic that the small screen adaptation of Thomas Harris’ iconic literary creation was canceled well before its time. Despite receiving almost universal critical acclaim, NBC canned Hannibal shortly after the third and final season premiered in June 2015 due to low ratings.
Even though the show had a dedicated and passionate fanbase, and has a real claim at being the single most consistently visually stunning TV series ever made, the numbers just weren’t good enough to keep it on the air. For the last half a decade, those that named themselves ‘Fannibals’ have been hoping that the complex relationship between Hugh Dancy’s Will Graham and Mads Mikkelsen’s Dr. Lecter will be the subject of a revival, but with a Clarice Starling prequel show in the works, it now looks more unlikely than ever.
However, all three seasons of Hannibal have been made available on Netflix as of today, and there’s every chance that it’ll quickly shoot towards the top of the streaming service’s top ten list over the weekend as fans revisit its all-too-brief run. Five years have now passed since the initial cancellation, and despite the vast majority of the key creative minds voicing their hope that it might eventually return in some form, unfortunately it seems as though the ship has now sailed for good on a potential Hannibal revival.
Which is a real travesty, because everything from the performances to the production design are among the finest work you’ll see in any show during the age of Peak TV. But maybe in the long run the double whammy of Hannibal‘s arrival on Netflix and the eventual success of the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement will mobilize the fanbase to try their luck at launching their online campaign once more.