‘I never felt that I was queerbaiting’: ‘Hannibal’ producer claps back at show’s critics

It’s been nearly a decade since NBC’s Hannibal ended, and yet, here we are talking about Hannigram in 2024. And after all these years, showrunner Bryan Fuller still isn’t standing for your queerbaiting accusations.

Allow me to set the stage: it’s 2013, Superwholock is running rampant on Tumblr, Obama is still in office, and Vine is the dominant form of social media. There’s also a new adaptation of Thomas Harris’ crime-thriller Hannibal series coming to NBC starring Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy—a show that, unbeknownst at the time, would go on to spark one of the most vitriolic debates surrounding network TV queerbaiting since the early (and later, if we’re being honest) days of Supernatural.

Cannibalism, murder, psychological trauma, and incestual overtones aside, one of Hannibal’s most talked-about elements to this day is “Hannigram”—which, of course, refers to the fictional romance (a.k.a. “ship”) between Mikkelsen’s Hannibal Lecter and Dancy’s FBI agent Will Graham. With iconic quotes like “We are her fathers now” and the substantially less subtle “Is Hannibal … in love with me?” it’s not exactly difficult to imagine why this ship was so appealing.

So even though Hannibal basically confirmed Will and Hannibal’s romantic feelings for each other (it’s complicated), they never actually “got together” in the conventional sense during the show’s three-season run. No, even though it’s teased, we never get that all-gratifying, slo-mo kiss scene where they run off together to live their best life as “murder husbands” on the run. But does that technically mean the series is guilty of queerbaiting? Well, according to its executive producer, no.

Bryan Fuller has no time for Hannibal queerbaiting critics: “Cynical and a little bit of assholery”

When it comes to queerbaiting, it’s perfectly understandable why LGBTQ+ fans are frustrated. It’s easy to become jaded after seeing the same old tropes time and time again and being led on across multiple seasons, only for showrunners or studio heads to shut down or simply never confirm a character’s queer identity. Because of this, genuine queer representation is still difficult to find in the TV landscape despite excellent additions like The L Word, Grace and Frankie, and the more recent Heartstopper.

Again, Hannigram was never explicitly confirmed, per se. Still, the show has cemented itself as a cornerstone of LGBTQ+ media. The tension between Hannibal and Will is palpable, and in my opinion, the queer subtext is an artful slow-burn rather than a case of queerbaiting—an accusation Fuller does not appreciate. The showrunner told IndieWire back in 2022 that he never intended to “mislead” audiences, and simply wanted to explore the intimacy between the show’s leads from a more authentic point of view, as—believe it or not—love doesn’t always play out as it does in early 2000s rom-coms.

“I was trying to tell an authentic story because I think exploring queerness from a heteronormative point of view is a complicated path. It certainly started out as a non-sexual same-sex couple experiencing a greater intimacy than they’ve ever experienced before. Then being able to transition through that to an intimacy that was qualified as love. Then a physical intimacy between them, where they are both penetrating a man, that is a culmination of their relationship with each other. Then falling into each other’s arms and over a cliff. I never felt that I was queerbaiting. I think that’s a buzzword for a lot of folks to find something to complain about because it feels like they were duped or misled.”

The beauty of Hannibal lies in its subtext, and a patient viewer might actually come to appreciate the fact that Will and Hannibal’s relationship is portrayed as non-sexual. Shipping culture can’t just demand that someone like Fuller shift his creative vision to appease fans; that’s where bullying and often unfounded accusations like these come in.

After all, Will and Hannibal’s love is rooted in a twisted sense of self-actualization and mutual understanding, not just sexual attraction. Plus, Hannibal does feature a same-sex couple, who have one of the show’s only healthy relationships: Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas) and Margot Verger (Katharine Isabelle).

“I’m just as proud of the explicit queerness of that relationship. The growing queerness of what’s happening between Will and Hannibal never felt exploitative. It felt authentic about somebody who once identified as heterosexual having a complex, intimate relationship with somebody of the same sex. Then going on a journey with those feelings to what lies down the path felt less coded and more authentic to the story of this man on this journey. Because it became explicitly queer in terms of the conversation about loving each other and where that love was going to take them, I think to dismiss it as queerbaiting is cynical and a little bit of assholery, honestly.”

It’s worth noting that Fuller himself is openly gay, which adds another layer to the queerbaiting accusations. Slamming Hannibal for “baiting” LGBTQ+ fans into watching doesn’t only undermine his work and his efforts to include a lesbian relationship, but it also places the blame on a queer creator as opposed to the studio, who—let’s be real—probably didn’t want to risk portraying a same-sex couple onscreen in a show that already tested its TV-MA rating (just a theory). While that’s not an excuse, it would explain why Will and Hannibal’s relationship is more “subtle,” if you can even call it that.

Could Hannibal explore LGBTQ+ themes in future seasons?

So, why are we rehashing the Hannibal queerbaiting debate in 2024? Well, that’s because a long-anticipated fourth season might be on the horizon. I don’t want to jinx it, but Mikkelsen, Dancy, and Fuller have all shared their openness to return for more episodes in the past year alone. During the Hannibal panel at Fan Expo Boston in July, Dancy and Mikkelsen shared their pitch for a potential season 4, which would involve a time skip to explain the ten-year gap between seasons.

Meanwhile, in talking to Business Insider back in February, Mikkelsen said, “I really don’t want to go back to any of my characters, except maybe for Hannibal because he’s not over yet,” further fueling rumors of a reboot.

After all, Fuller did reveal that Dancy and Mikkelsen shot a few takes where they kissed in the season 3 finale, so who knows? A season 4 revival might finally bring things full circle for our murder husbands. Either way, Hannigram is still a part of queer canon in my eyes, but I’d love to see the show continue their storyline post-fall—not even just for a hypothetical Will/Hannibal romance, but also to see how they survived. I wouldn’t get my hopes up, but never say never, right? Maybe then, shippers will finally be at peace, but I seriously doubt that it will ever be enough. In short, leave Bryan Fuller alone!!