Without a new season of Better Call Saul hitting AMC in 2019, Breaking Bad fans might have suffered some extreme withdrawals if not for the release of El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. The follow-up feature, which closed out Jesse Pinkman's redemption story, gave fans the long-awaited (and highly secretive) return of Bryan Cranston's Walter White with a subdued flashback scene. Understandably, fans want even more from Walt, though the flagship series' storyline almost definitely isn't returning.
However, that says nothing about what might happen on the Bob Odenkirk-led Better Call Saul, which is gearing up for Season 5 to arrive in 2020. With the prequel's narrative set to bump up against the Breaking Bad timeline before much longer, what are the chances that Bryan Cranston's meth king could make a pre-Heisenberg cameo? Here's what the actor is saying these days:
The only time I think about Walter White in Better Call Saul is when I get asked that question, and I get asked that question all the time. But I know that that [Better Call Saul co-creator] Vince and [co-creator] Peter Gould, who runs the show, are so protective of their characters and their story that they don’t want to do something that feels like a stunt like, 'Oh, hey, we got Sweeps coming up! Look who’s gonna show up on Better Call Saul!' It’s like, 'Ewww.' It’s not going to be that. If and when I do — of course I would because for the same reasons of El Camino — it feels appropriate and it’s in the milieu of that storytelling. I would do it because I love those guys and Bob and everybody on that show who I’m a fan of.
To me, this is the equivalent of, say, Steven Spielberg saying he'd be available to work as a second-unit director on one's student film. Sure, the student filmmaker might have reasons to turn the opportunity down, but for God's sakes, just let Bryan Cranston appear on Better Call Saul! Hmm, I may have mixed those analogies up there in the end.
For all the vocal persuasions that I could readily deliver to anyone ready to listen, Bryan Cranston is speaking logically and soundly about his potential to return to Albuquerque for Better Call Saul. I mean, it's not like co-creators Peter Gould and Vince Gilligan would just chuck him into the background of an unimportant scene just for shits and giggles, since they're more aware than anyone the weight of that character's importance. Even for as simple as Walt's El Camino cameo is, it still holds one of the character's all-time great lines.
All The Breaking Bad Characters That Appeared In El Camino
Fans will have to wait a while longer yet to see if Walter White ever will rear his smooth head on Better Call Saul, but Bryan Cranston is aware that time is of the essence where that potential cameo is concerned, since the two dramas' timelines are looking to dovetail before too much longer. Here's what else he told EW:
It would [have to be] very soon according to the storyline that I would show up as Walt. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, I’m okay.
Had El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie not come around to Netflix here in 2019, the world might have been a lot more rabid about Bryan Cranston getting back into Walt mode on Better Call Saul. Now that it's happened, a lot of viewers have no doubt been sated where those needs are concerned. Perhaps even Cranston has had that itch completely scratched now, since he's technically okay with it if Better Call Saul never comes calling. (Not me, though!)
With still a while to go before Season 5 arrives on AMC, Better Call Saul is coming back in 2020, likely without Walter White in tow. The first three seasons are available to stream on Netflix, with Season 4 dropping in the weeks ahead of Season 5's debut.
