The Change Netflix Made To Hannibal Has Fans Talking
After Young Hannibal depicted Hannibal Lecter as a samurai-themed kid seeking revenge on his sister's killers, it was easy to think that Hollywood has said all it has to say about everyone's favorite sadistic cannibal murderer. NBC's Hannibal promptly proved everyone wrong by bringing Dr. Lecter on the small screen, and turning the story into a creepy police procedural that had the eponymous gourmand-slash-serial killer (as played by Mads Mikkelsen) join forces with eccentric FBI criminal profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) to solve crimes ... or so Graham thinks. The procedural part soon fades in the background, and a slow, strange, occasionally murderous dance between the two characters begins.
The serial killer show's inherently disturbing plotlines and elaborate visuals enticed the viewers, while the story of Lecter himself unraveled slowly, teasingly in the background ... until, suddenly, it was at the forefront. Paired with excellent acting and amazing chemistry between the two leads, this novel approach has made Hannibal one of the most beloved series of the psychological horror/thriller genre. Unfortunately, this didn't save the show from cancellation, as NBC didn't renew the series for season four. The show has since joined the other darkest shows you'll find on Netflix, and there's even talk of that much-desired fourth season.
However, it appears that Netflix has made some changes to the streaming service version of Hannibal, and the fans are talking. What, exactly, is going on?
An interplay of light and dark
Don't worry, they didn't digitally turn Hannibal Lecter into a vegan plumber. However, people have noticed that the Netflix version of the show appears to be somewhat brighter than they've accustomed to. See, Hannibal is delicious stuff, as long as you don't think too hard about the elaborate meals Dr. Lecter cooks to his dinner guests. However, fans on Tumblr have grumbled about the show's lack of brightness, and there are a number of Reddit threads where fans air their grievances about the issue.
If you compare the Netflix and Amazon Prime versions of the show in the above picture, you can see that the Netflix one (pictured on the left) has some subtle color correction differences to the Amazon Prime one. Not only does it seem just a little bit brighter, but its tones are also warmer and slightly less greenish. The whole effect is so subtle you might be hard-pressed to notice it at first, but fans of the show have noticed, and they seem to think it greatly improves the viewing experience. As Twitter user @crellinpeaker noted, "New Hannibal fans actually get to WATCH Hannibal now that they've upped the brightness." User @grantairess agreed with this sentiment, writing: "Hey, people who are watching Hannibal for the first time on Netflix: You are so lucky they turned up the brightness."
It sure looks like Netflix's color correction antics have carried fruit in this particular occasion. Now, about that season four ...