'Hannibal' episode 'Ceuf' won't air but will get web series release

NBC pulled this week’s episode of Hannibal due to its particularly grisly subject matter, but the episode has managed to survive the chopping block, in a way. It has been repackaged for web series presentation on NBC.com.

Called “Ceuf,” the episode, which would have been the series’ fourth, was pulled when executive producer Bryan Fuller contacted the network in early April with concerns about the children killing children storyline in the episode, which was filmed before last December’s tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The web series will feature “Ceuf” in its entirety with the exception of some sensitive images, NBC tells EW.

NBC is bumping up the next episode, “Coquilles,” to this Thursday, April 25.

In an introduction to the first installment of the web series, Fuller explains that the “cannibalized” episode-turned-web series explores the relationship between Hannibal Lecter and Abigail Hobbs (The Killing).

“One of the things that was very exciting for me in doing this series was to see Hannibal outside of incarceration, in relationships with character, not only Jack Crawford and Will Graham, but in particular Abigail Hobbs,” Fuller says of his re-imagining of the character made famous by The Silence of the Lambs. He says that Hannibal and Abigail’s relationship will become more important and more complex further into the series, so he wanted to be sure to give fans a chance to see this episode in web series form.

Check out Fuller’s introduction and the first webisode below:

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