NBC’s ‘Hannibal’ Gets A Thrilling Trailer [Video]

NBC’s Hannibal has finally dropped a trailer, which will hopefully remove any doubt you might have had about the creative direction of the latest adaptation of the Thomas Harris character.

“Can I borrow your imagination?” Lawrence Fishburne’s “Jack Crawford” asks a pensive-looking Hugh Dancy at the start of the trailer. In the television show, Dancy plays “Will Graham,” a series staple played by William Peterson in the 1986 adaptation Manhunter and again by Edward Norton in 2002 (under the novel’s title, Red Dragon).

Dancy is joined by Mads Mikkelsen as the cannibalistic Dr. Hannibal Lecter. He’s the third to take on the role (after Brian Cox and Anthony Hopkins) which made some doubt the series at the start, since Hopkins’ performance is so married to the character in popular culture.

However, Mikkelsen has proven his villainous chops on films like Casino Royale, and if the trailer below is any indication, he’ll have an interestingly subtle take on the famous character.

Watching the trailer makes it seem, at least to me, that perhaps Harris’ novels are better suited to a television adaptation after all. If you split the books up into seasons, it looks as though Season 1 will be mostly original with some elements of Red Dragon.

Graham’s capture of Lecter was an afterthought in the original novel and film adaptation, and the bulk of the action stemmed from Graham’s pursuit of Francis Dolarhyde, nicknamed “The Tooth Fairy,” who is apparently absent from the show.

So if NBC’s Hannibal proves successful and is picked up for future seasons, I expect Season 1 will cover Graham’s relationship with Dr. Lecter as the two work to capture … Dr. Lecter. Season 2 will then adapt the bulk of Red Dragon, Season 3 will see a shift with the casting of a new Clarice Starling and adapt Silence of the Lambs, though they’ll probably preserve Dancy’s role and keep him on as a mentor of sorts.

Just speculating.

Anyway, catch the Hannibal trailer below. I was skeptical of the series at first, but after the clip I think I know where I’ll be when the show premieres on April 4 at 10pm. Sitting on my couch with ABC on.

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