Giancarlo Esposito Shares Idea for Gus Fring-Focused ‘Breaking Bad’ Prequel

“Better Call Saul” is coming back for a sixth and final season, but if series star Giancarlo Esposito has his way, the hit crime drama won’t mark the last time his Gustavo Fring character appears on the small screen.

Esposito mused about a potential Gus-focused television show in a recent interview with Esquire. The actor, who portrayed the iconic meth kingpin in the acclaimed “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” told the publication that he had his own theory on Gus’ origins and even came up with a name for a potential television show — “The Rise of Gus” — that would explore the character’s backstory in depth.

“I have this whole storyline in the back of my head that he came from political royalty,” Esposito told Esquire. “I feel like Gus came from the world of order. And that his order came. He was a military man. Out of the military, he gained the ability to observe. You can’t lead unless you can follow. […] In my brain, he was high up in a military government. He could have stayed there and ran the country. It was handed to him. But he chose a different path to be his own man and to find his own power, regardless of what he was handed. This is what he chose.”

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Though Gus’ origins have been hinted at throughout “Better Call Saul” and “Breaking Bad,” neither show has offered clear explanations for why Gus came to the United States and started a meth business. In series’ canon, Gus emigrated to the United States from Chile while the latter country was being ruled by Augusto Pinochet in the late 1980s and began conspiring to destroy the Mexico-based Juárez Cartel after its leader murdered Gus’ close friend.

Hypothetical television shows aside, Esposito also told Esquire that the final season of “Better Call Saul” will possibly begin filming in March 2021. He also teased that he will be given “a lot to do” in the sixth season of “Better Call Saul,” which does not have a release date.

Outside Albuquerque-based crime dramas, Esposito has appeared in a handful of other recent hit television shows. Esposito portrays nefarious Vought CEO Stan Edgar in Amazon Prime Video’s hit “The Boys” superhero series, as well as the similarly-evil Moff Gideon in Disney+’s wildly popular “The Mandalorian,” which premiered its Season 2 finale earlier in December. Esposito is expected to reprise his roles in both shows when their third seasons premiere.