So Vince Gilligan might make a Breaking Bad movie, huh? Sure, why not. The show was an all-timer, and every great series gets a movie/reboot/relaunch/whatever these days. Plus, we know an expansion of that world can work, because Better Call Saul is one of the best shows on TV. But what kind of story would make sense? The movie would have to deal with the drug trade and the people who live in that world, either intentionally or not. Based on those criteria, here are our best ideas for a spin-off….mixed in with some of our other more out-there ideas.
Jesse Sequel
The most obvious and logical choice is to find out what happened to Jesse after he drove off in the finale. As the greatest living meth maker in the world he’d be a hunted man, by both the police and the drug world. Where–and to whom–would he turn? How would he survive while also dealing with the emotional scars of the last couple of years?
Huell and Kuby Action-Comedy
After lying on top of all Walt’s money, Huell and Kuby try to get in on the action by filling the void left behind in the drug trade. But, they’re in over their heads! And what do two friends without a clue on how to turn meth into money do? They turn to two other “experts” to help them sell it, Badger and Skinny Pete, in “We Gotta Do it Man!”
The Juárez Cartel (Any Period)
How do you build a massive, multinational drug trade? How do you maintain it? And what do you do after you have been decimated? How do the surviving members regroup? A Cartel prequel or sequel would work, and so would a story concurrent to Breaking Bad. Focusing on the Cartel would offer amazing characters (old and/or new), and lots of action.
The DEA
Breaking Bad was mostly told from the criminal side, but Hank’s story let us know just how dramatic things can be on the other side of the fight. Just like the Cartel, the DEA would be ripe for a bigger story during any time period of the show, before (with Dean Norris returning as Hank), during, or after.
Walt Jr. Opens a Diner That Serves Breakfast 24 Hours a Day
Wait….no, never mind. This shouldn’t be a movie, THIS SHOULD BE AN ACTUAL SERIES. And like, drug dealers come in to eat and stuff, and also DEA agents. And Walt Jr. hires former Los Pollos Hermanos employees who are out of work. And at the end of every episode Walt Jr. gives advice in the form of a breakfast analogy. Yeah, okay, this is not one of our “best” ideas, this is our best one period. We can’t wait to see another Walter White cooking in “Flynn’s Diner.”
Young Gus Prequel
How did a (supposedly) poor Chilean kid end up personally pitching his new strain of meth to Don Eladio in the first place? How did he turn his fast food restaurants into a meth empire? Gus’s backstory, which we know so little about, might be the most fascinating of all, and there’s a ton of freedom to explore it before the start of Better Call Saul.
The Revenge of Heisenberg’s Daughter
Fast forward twenty years, when the forgotten daughter of a dangerous criminal rises up to retake her father’s crown as the Southwest’s drug kingpin. Because this year, Holly’s feeling jolly for vengeance in “Holly’s Uncertainty Principle.”
An Actual Sequel
Sorry, we know that’s not a very exciting sub-headline, but this idea might offer the most direct and compelling followup to Breaking Bad, even more than a movie about Jesse’s fate. The death of Walter White and the end of Blue Sky meth production would have created huge ripple effects for his family and the drug world. What would Skyler and Walt Jr’s life be like after Walt? What would it be like to be young Holly “Heisenberg” White? How crazy would the war be to take over the void left by Blue Sky disappearing? It’s an idea that could make for an action-packed, emotional story, one that would blend both the personal family side and violent drug trafficking side of Breaking Bad.
Walter White Lives
This technicality is on this list because Bryan Cranston has been fond of saying, we never (sigh) actually saw Walter White die. Maybe we go back to that moment, see his eyes close as the cops arrive, and then open in a hospital where his gunshot wound has been treated, and his cancer is being dealt with by actual doctors. How would he deal with incarceration? Could he avoid prison by working with the DEA to expose the entire business? What would the Cartel and other drug dealers do to stop him? Could he reconcile with his family?
Walter White should stay dead, but there’s the potential for a good story there if he didn’t.
And we definitely wouldn’t complain if we saw him have breakfast at Flynn’s Diner.
Images: AMC
