10 Iconic Movie Characters With INSANE Continuity
4. Hannibal Lecter
The TV series Hannibal changed several details and altered Lecter's timeline significantly from the books and films. In the novels, Lecter first meets Will Graham after Graham reaches out to him as the doctor who treated one of the victims he is investigating. This ends with Graham realising that Lecter is the ‘Chesapeake Ripper’ and Lecter is arrested after attacking Graham.
In the series, Lecter is introduced as a psychiatrist and consultant to the FBI, who becomes Graham’s therapist when he is traumatised after having to kill a suspect he was investigating. The two develop a close friendship, working on cases and having therapy sessions until Graham realises Lecter’s secret.
Problems obtaining the rights to The Silence of the Lambs, including Clarice Starling and Buffalo Bill, meant that Lecter’s storyline in the show had to be changed. Whereas the novel Hannibal ends with Starling and Lecter becoming lovers and running away together, this is changed to Lecter having a relationship with his psychiatrist Bedelia Du Maurier and a closer friendship with Will Graham. The film Hannibal also ends in a different way with Starling handcuffing herself to Lecter to catch him then him cutting off his hand to escape.
Season 3 ended with Graham and Lecter falling off a cliff, and series creator Bryan Fuller revealed that if Season 4 had happened, Lecter and Graham would have been on the run from the FBI, mirroring Lecter and Starling’s story in the novels.