Mads Mikkelsen tried to make Hannibal shippers’ dreams come true in finale

Mads Mikkelsen has been quite busy since his days as the people-eating star of Hannibal, but he’s always more than happy to revisit his time on the show. Just last summer, Mikkelsen joined fellow cast members and series creator Bryan Fuller for a Hannibal virtual reunion with Nerdist that reminded us just how much we loved this wacky series.

Much to the chagrin of day-one fans, Hannibal abruptly ended after three seasons, but many have been hopeful that there could be a revival in the future. The hope never dwindles, and it’s once again been reignited after Mads Mikkelsen revealed to Vulture that he would “love to go back” for season 4. In fact, he said that “everybody wants to go back” and that if they do only return than Fuller can finally finish the series in a “proper, surprising, stunning way”.

But what could a potential fourth season look like? If memory serves, at the end of the third season Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and Hannibal fall off a cliff and plunge into the water below. We never really learn if either of them survived.

That ambiguity was purposeful, because Fuller wanted it to work as either a season or series finale. But I think the biggest question on fans’ minds is if the show hadn’t been canceled, would we have seen a romantic relationship blossom between Hannibal and Will? Apparently, Mikkelsen and Dancy tried to give us a clear answer on that.

Mads Mikkelsen wanted to make shipper dreams come true

For years now, especially since the show ended back in 2015, Fannibals have been crazy over the idea of Will and Hannibal being romantically involved. It’s been the subject of a lot of fan art and fan fiction that imagined these two falling deeply in love.

According to Mikkelsen, there was a fleeting moment where he and Hugh Dancy almost made shipper dreams come true. Fuller eventually nixed their idea for the final scene, but Fannibals will be thrilled to know it wasn’t just in their heads:

"We actually did a couple of takes of the very last scene where we were looking at each other, and it was a little too obvious — it was almost a kiss. Me and Hugh were like, “Why not? We have a couple of takes. Let’s do one. It might be cool.”"

What a scene it could have been! Every Fannibal’s dream come true.

Sadly, while Dancy and Mikkelsen talked about it, the kiss didn’t actually happen:

"No, we didn’t. Never went for the kiss. Bryan loved it, but he was like, “Too much, guys. It’s too obvious.” And he was absolutely right. But I think we were just stuck on that. And a lot of the Fannibals wanted it as well. It’s been a subject of homoerotic fan art. And for good reason, because they are so united as twins in many ways. But we never wanted it to be a physical thing. It was something much bigger than that."

I can’t argue with Mads Mikkelsen there. The dynamic that Will and Hannibal shared was very complicated and nuanced. Perhaps if there was another season soon after, then maybe Fuller could have been convinced to dive deeper into the tension between the two men.

But still, we would have loved to see some form of romance between these two, and I’m holding out hope that this could still be the case.

Give us Hannibal season 4 now, please!

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime, and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels

h/t Vulture