At this point, even die-hard Hannibal fans know that it would take some years for any kind of revival, given Mads Mikkelsen, Hugh Dancy and Bryan Fuller’s increasingly complex schedules, though many would presume a condensed film effort would help broaden prospects. Intriguingly, however, Mikkelsen would much prefer Hannibal remain as episodic TV than any kind of one-off movie.

Speaking with Digital Spy, the erstwhile Hannibal Lecter and upcoming Rogue One star suggested that the NBC drama worked best in an hourly format, as opposed to the prospect of reuniting cast and crew for a movie revival. A prospective fourth season has only come forth with cryptic details, but where many have suggested the most economic idea for a reunion might prove Fuller’s take on Silence of the Lambs, but says Mikkelsen:

I won’t say no to anything but I think the TV medium for the story of Hannibal works so well. It’s not a film thing - it’s not something you can do in an hour-and-a-half … Because of the time we had, we could go slowly, reveal our ghosts in the closets later on … and I prefer that, I thinks that’s very interesting and dramatic to watch. Sure, it would be easy enough to make an interesting film but I think the medium we have chosen was perfect for what we wanted to do.

That said, few real details have been clarified of a potential fourth season, one Hugh Dancy claimed “took us back to the first season in a very unexpected way … but it wasn’t the Clarice / Silence of the Lambs storyline.” Producer Martha De Laurentiis also suggested that online piracy might have hurt Hannibal‘’s chances for a fourth season.

An episodic revival seems significantly less likely to gather the needed cast and crew, between Fuller’s Star Trek and American Gods, Dancy’s The Path, Mikkelsen’s increasingly prolific film work, or even Laurence Fishburne’s black-ish, but does Mikkelsen at least have a point on the best format for a revival?