Talks of ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul’ crossover ongoing

Shows' executive producers announced that a character from 'Breaking Bad' would be introduced into 'Better Call Saul'

SAN DIEGO: The casts of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul have finally come together, as most fans had hoped. However, it wasn't on television but at a special premiere at the San Diego ComicCon on Thursday, July 19.

The stars of the two shows, Bryan Cranston (Walter White from Breaking Bad) and Bob Odenkirk (Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman from Better Call Saul), led their respective casts for a screening of the first episode in the new season of Better Call Saul.

PHOTO: VARIETY

Earlier in the day, the shows' executive producers, Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, announced that a character from Breaking Bad would be introduced into Better Call Saul's latest season - although they appeared to have ruled out both Cranston and Aaron Paul's characters.

Speaking on the red carpet, Gilligan said, "You have two shows for the price of one with Better Call Saul. It's its own show, it stands on its own two legs wonderfully. Just by itself, it's a great great show, but more and more in season four, the Breaking Bad world is coming into the Better Call Saul world and it's going like this and it's overlapping."

RJ Mitte, who played Walter White Jr in Breaking Bad, was in a celebratory mood and said, "It's a little hectic but it's good. It's good. It's always special to see these guys."

PHOTO: HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

“This season you get to meet Lalo, who is portrayed by a magnificent actor named Tony Dalton,” said Gould. In the scene from Breaking Bad where Walter and Jesse take Saul to the dessert and threaten to bury him, Saul reference’s Lalo. “I think you’re going to see a few familiar faces that you’re going to enjoy,” Gould said. “I know I certainly do.”

Gould and Odenkirk also talked about the connection between the two shows — with Odenkirk noting that he sometimes feels bad for his character McGill, who is fated to become Goodman. Odenkirk said that he at one point called Gould and asked, “Could we just change the name of the show?”

Gould said that a similar idea was pitched to him by Noah Hawley, creator and showrunner of Fargo and Legion. "Noah Hawley said to me, ‘I have a pitch for you for your show — he never becomes Saul Goodman'.”

PHOTO: INDIE WIRE

After the Better Call Saul panel, the cast of Breaking Bad took the  stage. Gilligan, who joined them, said that neither Cranston’s Walter White and Paul’s Jesse Pinkman would appear on Better Call Saul season four, but added, “I suspect that we would be sorely remiss” if Walter and Jesse did not appear on Better Call Saul.

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Gilligan also talked about when he realised that the show had caught cultural traction, telling Cranston, “When you got the Emmy nomination and then won the Emmy for our first seven episodes, that to me was the turning point.” Gilligan said that when they called Cranston’s name for his first Breaking Bad Emmy win in 2008, “all the air went out of my lungs. I jumped up, I never do stuff like that, I jumped up and I hit my hands together so hard when I got home I had to put them in ice water.”

PHOTO: AMC

How much of the Breaking Bad universe enters into the hit show will begin to be revealed when the new season of Better Call Saul premieres on AMC on August 6, 2018.

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