Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan believes there are potentially more stories to be told in the Breaking Bad universe, but one that he doesn’t want to see is a spinoff where Walter White’s son becomes a drug kingpin like his dear old (dead) dad. Speaking to Variety, Gilligan said this idea is “doubtful as hell.”
Gilligan said he enjoyed working with RJ Mitte, who played Walt Jr., but making him follow in the footsteps of his father would be “depressing as hell.”
“That would be the wrong lesson from the show, if there are any lessons at all to be gleaned from it,” Gilligan said.
Also in the interview, Gilligan said he finds himself from time to time thinking about Breaking Bad’s characters and what they’re doing in the world now that the show has ended. He said Walt. Jr. and Skyler (Anna Gunn) are great people playing great roles and he wants to believe they found some happy ending after the events of Breaking Bad.
“When Breaking Bad ends, it’s not a very happy ending for those characters at all, but it is presented that their lives go on. I’d like to believe things get better for them,” he said. “I’d hate the thought of Walt Jr. following in Walt’s footsteps in the crime business.”
Gilligan said he expects someone to pitch a show about Walt Jr. in the next 10-15 years, with the story of Walt Jr. becoming the next Albuquerque crime boss and “succeeding where his father failed.” But Gilligan wants nothing to do with this.
“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,” he said. “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 is finished with the Breaking Bad universe for now, following his work on that show, Better Call Saul, and the Netflix movie El Camino. Now, he’s making a sci-fi series for Apple TV+ starring Rhea Seehorn.
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