Giancarlo Esposito will be back for one more go as Gus Fring in the sixth and final season ofBetter Call Saul, but the actor has an idea for how to continue the chicken-hocking drug lord’s story in anotherBreaking Badprequel. Speaking about the iconic role in a recent interview with Esquire, Esposito opened up about his idea for a prequel calledThe Rise of Gusthat would fill in the blanks of the character’s mysterious backstory.
“I have this whole storyline in the back of my head that he came from political royalty,“Giancarlo Espositoexplains. “I feel like Gus came from the world of order. And that his order came. He was a military man. Out of the military, he gained the ability to observe. you’re able to’t lead unless you can follow…”
He adds, “In my brain, he was high up in a military government. He could have stayed there and ran the country. It was handed to him. But he chose a different path to be his own man and to find his own power, regardless of what he was handed.This is what he chose.”
The obvious difficulty in producinganotherprequel set in theBreaking Baduniverse is that the cast isn’t getting any younger. If we’re being honest, many of the returning cast members inBetter Call Saulare visibly much older than they were inBreaking Bad. Going back even further in time as the cast continues to age might start to feel a bit too much likeThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Of course, the option is always there to go animated or to use modern de-aging technology to get around this problem.
Esposito first began playingGus Fringin the second season ofBreaking Bad, established as a criminal kingpin who hides in plain sight as the owner of a locally-owned fried chicken restaurant chain. Although the character met a grisly demise, Esposito returned to be featured prominently inBetter Call Saul, which is set years before the events ofBreaking Bad. Along with Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman, many other stars of the original series have appeared to reprise their roles, including Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut, Dean Norris as Hank Schrader, Lavell Crawford as Huell Babineaux, and Mark Margolis as Hector Salamanca.
In any case, there’s still plenty more of Gus for fans of the character to enjoy beforeBetter Call Saulbows out with season 6. Esposito says that the producers have told him he’ll have “a lot to do” when shooting begins. Filming on the final season will start as early as March, so hopefully, we’ll be seeing some new episodes by the end of 2021.
Meanwhile, Esposito fans can also check him out in other acclaimed roles in popular shows. He plays Stan Edgar on the superhero satire seriesThe Boyson Amazon Prime Video and the villainous Moff Gideon on theStar WarsseriesThe Mandalorianon Disney+. You can read the rest of Esposito’s interview in full atEsquire.
