Everyone’s got to start somewhere, and in a time when every iconic film character’s getting a prequel (Darth Vader, Leatherface, The Pink Bloody Panther) it only seems fair that Hannibal Lecter should get his roots explored.
As Hannibal Rising shows, the art expert/medical genius/psycho killer predictably didn’t have a happy childhood and went through some traumatic times during World War Two. We’re introduced to the young Hannibal (played here by A Very Long Engagement’s Gaspard Ulliel and track him as his mental trauma starts to shape the charming, lethal man we meet in Manhunter (or Red Dragon, but we still prefer the Michael Mann film).
And now the prequel film has a poster. It’s… the man himself. In a mask. Not the most original idea, but it does the job. Hannibal Rising will feast on our cinematic livers next year.