'Breaking Bad' Creator Vince Gilligan Shoots Down Idea for Another Spinoff
The writer said that, while he often thinks about his characters' lives after the show ended, he is not interested in writing all of them.
Vince Gilligan has not shied away from spinoffs of his hit series Breaking Bad, but there is one idea out there that he is not very interested in. In a new interview with Variety, Gilligan reflected on his acclaimed crime drama 10 years after its finale. He referenced an idea for a spinoff about Walt Jr. (R.J. Mitte) that he does not want to make.
Gilligan was asked if he thought much about what came next for the surviving characters of Breaking Bad, and if he still ponders the ideas today. He said he does, and elaborated: "When Breaking Bad ends, it's not a very happy ending for those characters at all, but it is presented that their lives go on. I'd like to believe things get better for them." He then mentioned – apparently just as one example – the idea of a show where Walter Jr. follows his father's example to become a crime lord in his own right.
"I'd hate the thought of Walt Jr. following in Walt's footsteps in the crime business," he said. "That's probably the kind of thing somebody will pitch 10 or 15 years from now – Walter Jr. as an Albuquerque crime lord succeeding where his father failed. I could pretty much guarantee right now that I have no interest in seeing that happen."
Gilligan said that a spinoff like that would be "a sad tribute to the show. It's fun thinking about what would happen to the characters, but it doesn't rise to the level of, 'Gee, I'd like to tell more about the story.' But who knows, in a few yeras, maybe."
The interviewer marveled that Gilligan had just pulled this idea from thin air only to dismiss it, and Gilligan said: "The only attractive thing about that idea is working with RJ Mitte again because he's a wonderful actor and sweet guy. But that would be depressing as hell. That would be the wrong lesson from the show, if there are any lessons at all to be gleaned from it."
Of course, Gilligan was very active in the show's first spinoff Better Call Saul, which ran even longer than Breaking Bad and just wrapped up its run last year. He also wrote, directed and produced El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie in 2019. However, right now Gilligan is looking ahead to new projects – notably his upcoming sci-fi series starring Rhea Seehorn on Apple TV+.
That show is just now resuming its writers' room now that the WGA strike is over, and Gilligan is celebrating that as well. There's no word on when that sci-fi show is coming just yet, but in the meantime, fans can stream Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul on Netflix.