Now that “Breaking Bad” has reached its end with less vitriol than normal for a series finale, the focus naturally shifts to its creator Vince Gilligan‘s next move, and also how well the show’s legacy can be protected. As it turns out his next project will address both, as Gilligan has hopped onboard the Saul Goodman prequel “Better Call Saul” for AMC, and aside from bringing back Bob Odenkirk in the lead role, a new article suggest that we haven’t seen the last of Walt and Jesse either.
In an extensive profile on THR (via Collider), Gilligan addresses his decision to join showrunner (and Saul’s creator) Peter Gould for the new show, and most notably explains their decision to switch from an initially intended half-hour comedy format into a more traditional one-hour drama template—one that carries on the signature visual look of “Breaking Bad.” “We’re both one-hour drama guys, so we figured, ‘Why not shoot ‘Saul; in the same way?’ ” he says. “Let’s shoot it in Albuquerque, let’s get as much of the crew back together as possible, and let’s do it the way we did it before so that it will be of a piece with that preexisting fictional universe that we had so much fun creating.”
Gilligan says that the comedic aspects of Odenkirk’s character will still remain, he and the writers are well aware they need to locate “that ongoing itch that Saul needs to scratch” for the dramatic thrust of the prequel to stay effective. He also hasn’t ruled out potential pre-meth drop-ins from Walt (Bryan Cranston) or Jesse (Aaron Paul), saying he’d “have a hard time resisting putting all these guys in for a cameo or two every now and then.”
In addition to prepping both his CBS drama series “Battle Creek” and unconfirmed feature-length directorial debut, Gilligan will direct the “Better Call Saul” pilot and also remain in the writers room through the first season. He says a premiere date of August or September on AMC is likely, so keep your eyes peeled next year for the opportunity to let more “Breaking Bad” into your life… but is it a good idea to keep adding to the show’s legacy? Does the fictional world of Walter White need to keep expanding or should Gilligan just let it go already? Let us know below.
I think it's a bad idea. The show should be as far as it can be from the Breaking Bad stuff we liked. It would be in their best interest. Just have Bill Burr as a recurrent character and make it funny. The show as a better shot at success if it doesn't try to be Breaking Bad.
Great idea i would be mad if i didnt see Walt or Jesse make a cameo
Also I'd like to see some non Breaking Bad cameos, Tim Heidecker as his intern or David Cross as a prosecutor or something like that
Having young Jesse appear makes a heck of a lot more sense than per-cancer Walt, both within the logic of the shows reality and also respective to what would be interesting for the Audience to see. The reason Walt was such a fascinating character to watch was because he was transforming into Heisenberg.rior to that he was supposed to be meek and depressed, which I don't know how entertaining that would be really. I guess for one episode or something if they did it right.
The whole show is a bad idea.
I kind of prefer this over dancing around "Breaking Bad" completely. What's more important than whether or not there will be cameos though is probably keeping the distance between "Better Call Saul" and "Breaking Bad" in a way that is not too forced.
Prequels are ALWAYS a bad idea…