Mads Mikkelsen Teases ‘Hannibal’ Season 4 for Netflix

The beloved thriller Hannibal may get a fourth season on Netflix, according to the star himself Mads Mikkelsen. Mikkelsen plays the iconic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the series, which was canceled by NBC way back in 2015. Now, Mikkelsen is hinting that it might be back on a new home.

“Hannibal hits Netflix in June: Is Hannibal season 4 on the way?” Mikkelsen wrote in a recent Instagram caption. This blunt teaser had fans over the moon — especially those die-hard followers who have been mourning the end of Hannibal ever since it aired. It was precisely the kind of show that inspired an obsessive and outspoken fandom, and they have shown that even after half a decade, they can show up in full force for their favorite adaptation.

As Mikkelsen noted, the existing three seasons of Hannibal will be hitting Netflix next month. So far, it seems to be only a licensing agreement, with no formal word of a revival season out there. However, the timing does strike some fans as odd, since most NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia properties are being pulled off of other streaming services to go on Peacock or HBO Max.

With Hannibal swimming against the current to go up on Netflix now, many are hopeful that there is more good news coming for the series. Showrunner Bryan Fuller has been fueling these hopes, telling fans as recently as last spring that “no one has given up” on reviving the show.

“I’ve made it clear I want to do it, the cast wants to do it, and [executive producer] Martha [De Laurentiis] wants to do it,” he wrote on Twitter. “We just need a network or a streaming service that wants to do it, too. I don’t feel there’s a clock on it or an expiration date for the idea. We just need someone to bite.”

Netflix has often been the service to jump on opportunities like this, with shows like Lucifer that began on Network TV and moved to streaming. However, more recently, Netflix has been the one breaking fans’ hearts with early cancellations. In at least a few cases now, Netflix original series have been revived elsewhere — such as One Day at a Time on Pop TV or Tuca & Bertie on Adult Swim. Whatever the future holds for Hannibal, fans will at least get to binge-watch the first three seasons soon enough. Hannibal will be available on Netflix in the U.S. starting on June 5.