“Breaking Bad” fans are still waiting in anticipation to see if Bryan Cranston’s Walter White will be reprising his role in the upcoming spin-off show, “Better Call Saul”. Hopes of seeing some of the popular characters reprising their roles emerged, when reports earlier this year speculated the return of Cranston and Aaron Paul’s Jesse Pinkman. Additional rumors also fueled the ongoing hopes of seeing Cranston back as the drug-lord when the actor himself mentioned that there might be a chance that his iconic character may have survived.
Bryan Cranston as Walter White
According to executive producer Peter Gould, the new show will feature scenes that move back and forth over several decades. He added that Walter White fans can also expect some of the events to take place during the time the meth cook conducted business. The breaking news supports earlier reports published this year, when Gould mentioned that the show is set as a prequel. He said that “the wonderful thing about the fractured chronology we employed on Breaking Bad for many years is the audience will not be thrown by us jumping around in time”
He also mentioned that we might see diffident timelines jumps within the storyline:
“So it’s possible that we may indeed do that, and we’ll see the past and perhaps the future.”
In a recent interview with New York Daily News, the executive producer says that it’s possible to bring back Walter White based on the fractured chronology theme they employ:
“One of the great things about having a time line which is flexible is that perhaps some of it takes place before ‘Breaking Bad’, during ‘Breaking Bad’, and after ‘Breaking Bad’,”
“That gives us the ability to bring back characters that were killed on ‘Breaking Bad’.”
Bob Odenkirk will reprise his role as Saul Goodman
Gould reassured Saul Goodman fans that the spin-off would not be dependent on the return of “Breaking Bad” characters to carry the new storyline. He said:
“We want to make a show that stands on its own, is its own story and is a brand extension”
“We think we have a story that is worth making. … We could never dream of the kind of success that ‘Breaking Bad’ had and the love we got from the fans. But (with ‘Saul’) at a certain point you have to do the best job you can and tell the best story that entertains you, get a good response and hope people like it.”
The spin-off show has already received the green light for a 13-episode second season while production is already underway for the first season. Gould is pleased with the opportunity, he said:
“It’s tremendous for us because we get to plot out two seasons. And the way we work is similar to ‘Breaking Bad’ as it is very serialized and each episode builds on the last. And that gives us a much bigger canvas to play with.”
Gould will executive produce the new show, while Gilligan plans to direct the pilot. “Better Call Saul” will focus on the evolution of the popular Saul Goodman character before he ever became Walter White’s lawyer. Fans can expect Saul Goodman’s trusted private investigator Michael “Mike” Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) to reprise his role. Banks will join Bob Odenkirk who will reprise his role as Saul Goodman. Dean Norris, who played Walt’s DEA Agent brother-in-law Hank, said it’s unlikely for him to join the cast of the “Breaking Bad” spin-off due to his commitments on CBS’ “Under the Dome”.
“Better Call Saul” has been given a 24-episode order by AMC for its first season. Originally set to be released somewhere in November this year, the series is now pushed back from November to early 2015, with the second season scheduled to air in early 2016.
Check out our “Better Call Saul” archive for more details
