NBC’s ‘Hannibal’ season 3 spoilers: The killer origin story

What makes Hannibal Lecter Hannibal Lecter? There are many questions that we have leading into the upcoming third season of the series, but this is one that will definitely be explored.

As all “Hannibal” viewers witnessed (or at least those who did not turn off their TVs too quickly) during the season finale, Hannibal took off on a plane with Bidelia, seemingly to some part of France based on the crew. For him, this certainly marks a chance to escape, but for how long? He is now a clearly wanted man, especially since it is pretty clear that at least one person he badly injured in Will Graham is going to make it through alive.

Series creator and TV genius Bryan Fuller tells TVLine that in addition to trying to find Hannibal, one of the priorities for Will is going to be figuring out more of the character’s roots, and learning if there is anything that helped to make this man who he is. Sometimes, in order to predict the future, you have to understand the past. (Okay, we’ll stop it with the cheesy sage comments now.)

The report also claims that Thomas Harris’ “Hannibal Rising” should serve as inspiration for some of this, which should not be much of a surprise given how much of this TV universe has already drawn from the books. To us, what has consistently made that interesting is how they have used the source material well as inspiration, but were never afraid to drift away from that when they want to give their own flavor.

If you want to further cheer for “Hannibal,” we suggest now that you head over here and vote for Hugh Dancy as a favorite to win Best Actor in a Drama Series. Also, you can sign up now for further TV updates courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: NBC