Itās interesting to think about the actual chronology of Hannibal, that is Red Dragon being the first book Thomas Harris published. At least I tend to think about Clarice Starling as Willās predecessor, probably because The Silence of the Lambs is the definitive original super popular Hannibal thing. The Silence of the Lambs wasnāt even published until after Thomas Harris had his first movie adaptation (Manhunter 1986). It just leaves me with questions for me about the creation of Clarice, if Harris even intended to write a series about Hannibal in the first place given that red dragon seems to be pretty wrapped up with a bow. Clarice becomes far more iconic than Will and like that she becomes his predecessor. Bryan Fuller really gets this with the NBC Will Graham character, he really feels like the perfect combination of Starling and book/movie Graham. For me he really ties up all the lose ends and inconsistencies of Clarice and Will as separate entires with a special kind of reverence for the books ahh itās super awesome