Michael Pitt Has A Creepy New TV Role

If you didn't watch Bryan Fuller's horrifying, dark, and strangely beautiful show Hannibal last year on NBC, you missed out on one of the most interesting shows to come to network TV. The reboot of Thomas Harris' series of novels about the cannibalistic serial killer and psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) unites troubled FBI agent Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) with the killer as they confront a world full of dangerous people and evil doings. This year, the show will introduce a new evil within Hannibal and Graham's world: Boardwalk Empire's Michael Pitt will join Hannibal as Mason Verger, a new patient of Dr. Lecter's.

Last season, we saw as Graham descended into a madness after a series of manipulations by Dr. Lecter, who still had not been found out as the serial murderer that he is. With Graham residing in a mental institution — for the time being, anyway — it is time that we see Hannibal deal with a patient who may be just as dangerous as Lecter himself. In the Harris novel, Verger is a rapist whom Hannibal disfigures, causing Verger to seek revenge.

I'm excited to see Verger as a character on the television reboot, and I think that Michael Pitt is a great choice for this role. Here are four reasons why he's the perfect choice for the terrifying Verger:

He Has Experience Playing A Killer

In the 2007 American version of Funny Games, Michael Pitt plays a teen killer who, along with his friend, enter into unsuspecting homes and torture and kill the residents — all while wearing country club attire. It's a highly disturbing film and Pitt steals the show with his charming yet callous approach to the role. It's the role that would have definitely prepped him for Verger, whom, in the novel, dreams of feeding Hannibal to wild boars.

He Was A Fan Favorite On Boardwalk Empire

It's about time that the person behind Jimmy Darmody made it back on TV. Jimmy had several (hundred) demons that he had to wrestle with, and we're sure that Michael Pitt can handle yet another emotionally damaged (or, in this case, deranged) television character.

He'll Shake Up The Show

If done correctly, the character of Verger has potential to shake up the show. The cat-and-mouse game between Hannibal and Verger means we'll finally see Hannibal not in complete control. Michael Pitt is a strong enough actor to make us more scared of Verger than we are of Hannibal.

Like Everything Else On This Show, He Is Gorgeous

Bryan Fuller has a knack for taking the most disturbing imagery and making it somehow beautiful — a pretty impressive feat when it comes to finding beauty in a serial killer's signature way of killing. In case the photo above doesn't illustrate the same haunted beauty that Hannibal evokes so well, in 2012 Prada hired Pitt to model their men's collection.