Take out your fava beans as after a long search, it looks like NBC and Bryan Fuller have found their Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the form of Mads Mikkelsen.

Mikkelsen is not a familiar name but he is a familiar face. He starred as the villain Le Chiffre in the 2006 version of ‘Casino Royale,’ played Draco in ‘Clash of the Titans’ reboot, was Rochefort in the steampunk version of ‘The Three Musketeers,’ and just recently was awarded the Best Actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance in ‘The Hunt.’ He was also just recently cast as the villain opposite Chris Hemswoth in ‘Thor 2.’

In Fuller’s version of ‘Hannibal,’ FBI profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) enlists renowned psychiatrist Dr. Lecter for his assistance in solving heinous crimes not knowing he’s secretly the most atrocious serial killer of them all. The series will follow the early days of the relationship between Lecter and Graham updated for modern day. Reportedly, Fuller has described the series as a “love story tole across at least 7 seasons.” NBC seems to have full confidence in the project as they ordered Hannibal straight to series without ordering a pilot first.

Now that the two leads for ‘Hannibal’ have been cast, production can quickly move forward. Fans of Marvel superhero movies will get to see how much of a villain Mikkelsen can be as the 13-episode series is expected to premiere sometime next season, a year before ‘Thor 2’ is slated to be released (November 8, 2013).

I think it may be time to stock up on some Chianti.

Source: Deadline