The Red Dragon will make his debut in Hannibal‘s third season, but what other property does Bryan Fuller wish he had access to?

Take a scroll down any entertainment website and the words reboot, reunion, or adaptation will appear before you reach the bottom. Some have potential (The Muppet Show) while others are giving audiences some pause (Fuller House). Like it or not, adaptations are the bread and butter of Hollywood. This past weekend at the ATX Television Festival, three successful adaptors, Noah Hawley (Fargo), Graham Yost (Justified), and Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) came together for a conversation about creating their own unique vision while honoring the world of another creator.

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Photo credit: Jack Plunkett

Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham’s relationship is where the idea for NBC’s Hannibal sparked. Taking the novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, creator Bryan Fuller built his unique origin story of Dr. Lecter and Will Graham’s meeting. “We’re more like mashup DJs,” says Fuller on the experience of creating Hannibal.

Hawley’s Fargo, created for FX, was less related to the original movie by the Coen Brother’s in 1987, but hit the mark tonally. Yost’s six-season run of Justified was the only true breakout adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s writing, and it certainly was not the first project that attempted to do so. “Fire in the Hole,” a short story by Leonard, served as the basis for the entire series with other characters negotiated for as the show continued its run.

Speaking of characters and the right to their use, Hannibal remains in an interesting predicament. Fuller spoke to the hurdles that exist between his adaptation and the future of the series as it approaches the edges of Silence of the Lambs. Gaumont International Television secured the rights to Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon. Any character that originated in the novel is fair game for Fuller and company to bring into their project. All others, from Hannibal and Hannibal Rising, must be leased.

For example, the Verger twins are worth a certain amount of money and are paid for each time they make an appearance. These side deals are not uncommon when it comes to adapting series, movies, or even other television shows, into new projects. But when a studio, such as MGM, does not budge on their rights to familiar characters, the audience anticipation dampens. (We’re looking at you, Clarice Starling.)

Related: Hannibal season 3 premiere recap: Bonswa

Fuller isn’t worried though. Hannibal‘s season 3 agenda has them plenty busy with two very different arcs. Right now, Hannibal finds himself in the Italian chapter of his life, living on the lamb with Bedelia at his side. As we saw last week in the season opener, Hannibal’s story is still deeply intertwined with Will Graham. For the first seven episodes of the season, Will and Hannibal will perform their dance around one another as they try to move into the next phase of their “homoerotic friendship,” as Fuller describes it. Then in episode 8, the Red Dragon, aka Francis Dolarhyde, makes his debut in what Fuller says will be a mostly dialogue free episode directed by Neil Marshall (Game of Thrones, Doomsday).

The one character Fuller is upset he does not have access to? Buffalo Bill, the serial killer who uses the skin of his victims to make a “woman suit.”

Even without certain characters, Hawely, Fuller, and Yost managed to keep the Coens, Harris, and Leonard’s spirit in their work while flipping the stories on their head. They gender swapped, tried new camera work, and set up events that were unpredictable but inevitable as a result of their new framework. As for whether or not the original creators had any influence in the new worlds, Leonard and the Coen brothers stayed largely out of the picture aside from initial negotiations and a few tidbits here and there. On the other hand, Fuller has a hard time believing Harris exists as he remains silent on the project even today. Fuller has never spoken with him directly.

But these creators have nothing to worry about. Justified, Fargo, and Hannibal all found their niche audience and brought in an entirely new audience to the source material of their predecessors through the engaging content of their unique visions.

Watch Hannibal season 3, episode 2, “Primavera,” Thursday, June 11 at 10:00 p.m. ET on NBC.