Breaking Bad Might Not Be Finished Just Yet, Creator Teases
Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan shuts down a sequel pitch he'd hate to see while teasing that there still may be more to come from that universe.
There may not be any active plans at this time to develop another TV series set in the Breaking Bad universe, but creator Vince Gilligan hasn’t shut the door completely on the possibility.
Last year, Better Call Saul wrapped up a six-season run on AMC, following five seasons of Breaking Bad and a tie-in Netflix movie. The show’s cast and crew have since been moving on to pursue other projects, and for Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, that means creating a new sci-fi series that’s in the works for Apple TV+. The series happens to star Better Call Saul favorite Rhea Seehorn, but is notably not a part of the Breaking Bad universe with no storyline connections whatsoever.
In a new interview with Variety, Gilligan addressed the likelihood of another Breaking Bad spinoff happening. He admitted that he often finds himself “thinking about those characters, daydreaming about what would have happened to them.” He points to Skyler White (Anna Gunn) and Walter White Jr. (RJ Mitte) as two characters he likes to believe that “things get better” for after fans last saw them in the Breaking Bad finale. However, Gilligan certainly has no interest in a sequel series that imagines Walter Jr. pursuing a life of crime, picking up where his late father left off.
Forget About a “Heisenberg Jr.” Series
“I’d hate the thought of Walt Jr. following in Walt’s footsteps in the crime business,” Gilligan said. “That’s probably the kind of thing somebody will pitch 10 or 15 years from now — Walter Jr. as an Albuquerque crime lord succeeding where his father failed. I could pretty much guarantee right now that I have no interest in seeing that happen. That’d be a sad tribute to the show. It’s fun thinking about what would happen to the characters, but it doesn’t rise to the level of, ‘Gee, I’d like to tell more about the story.’ But who knows, in a few years maybe.”
Gilligan reiterated that a “Heisenberg Jr.” spinoff series is “doubtful as hell,” as much as he’d love to reunite with the “wonderful actor and sweet guy” that Mitte is. With that said, Gilligan also shared how, despite having no interest at this moment in time to do more with Breaking Bad, he might be interested in doing that in the future under certain conditions. If the fans reject his next projects and continue to call for more Breaking Bad, Gilligan may consider it, though he’s still worried about overdoing it with the franchise.
“To be brutally honest, if I get my ass handed to me with this next show and the one after that, and nobody wants to see it and everybody wants Breaking Bad, who knows! Maybe we’ll see our way clearer to doing something in the future. But what I’d like to do is leave it be,” Gilligan explained. “I kind of wonder if there are further stories to tell, but I don’t want to beat a dead horse. I look around and see other storytelling worlds — I’m not going to name names — that feel like, ‘Boy, they are really sucking that last dime out of that franchise.’ I’d hate to see that happen with this.”
He continued, “I’d rather err on the side of leaving the party too soon than too late. But never say never. That’s just how I feel right now, but who knows down the line.”
Every episode of Breaking Bad is streaming on Netflix.
