For the Hannibal fandom, love is always on the menu. Showrunner Bryan Fuller has previously shared with Nerdist that should season four of Hannibal come to life, the only path for Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter’s intimacy is forward. Fuller even noted that Will and Hannibal would hopefully answer all of Google’s most asked questions about them (Do they kiss? Kill together? Date?) with an affirmative. At Fan Expo Boston’s Hannibal panel, which Nerdist was excited to moderate, Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy also considered the question. While they might not be as effusively romantic as Fuller in their notions, there’s no doubt there’s love to explore between Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter.
Interestingly enough, in Dancy’s opinion, and this has been a long-standing belief for him, Will Graham knows that Hannibal Lecter is in love with him, but Will Graham doesn’t, at least consciously, imagine himself to be in love with Hannibal at the point of the season three finale. (The last of the series for now.) Still, when asked what it might take for Will Graham to finally fall in love with Hannibal Lecter at Fan Expo Boston, Dancy joked, “Seven seasons?” But hey, he didn’t say never. We choose to interpret that answer as “time.”
Dancy also added at Fan Expo Boston that Will Graham is still firstly wrestling with his own perspectives on the world in Hannibal. He shared, “I think Will’s coming to terms with something within himself primarily.” But, of course, as Fuller has shared, Will Graham might be in a more malleable state should Hannibal season four take place. So perhaps, now that he’s done coming to terms with himself, there might be room to come to terms with his love for Hannibal.
Mikkelsen, meanwhile, jokingly groused on Hannibal’s behalf, “What is wrong with you?” and then proceeded to share some of his perspectives, noting that for Will and Hannibal, “there’s a mutual fascination, and they see each other for who they are. We can equate that love, but primarily, they are cat and mouse, and they keep changing who is the cat and who is the mouse… and, okay, a little in love.” He’ll give us that.
During a different question at the Fan Expo Boston panel, Mikkelsen and Dancy also considered whether their characters would ever engage in time travel to change any of their fates and circumstances in Hannibal. Ultimately, both landed on Will and Hannibal forgoing any kind of shift in their journeys. (Although Will might be tempted on reflex.) Considering everything they’ve been through, that feels as good as saying they’re fated to come together. You can catch some of these Hannigram love questions and answers and more in the highlights video below from the Fan Expo Hannibal panel.
Ultimately, Hannibal season four lives in Bryan Fuller’s brain. And the rest, for now, exists in the hands of fans. Will Hannibal‘s love story continue? It does every single day. And, hopefully, we’ll get to see it on screen soon as well sometime soon.