Hannibal season 3 plot: Will Graham digs deeper into Lecter's childhood, Bedelia to explore her dark side

Hannibal season 3 will premiere in a week and the latest season preview released by NBC teases the dark intentions of Dr Bedelia Du Maurier, the femme fatale of the popular thriller drama.

Hannibal Lecter and his psychiatrist friend Bedelia have fled to Europe after the events of season 2 and are living in contemporary Florentine society as husband and wife.

Bedelia, who was fascinated by the creepy ways of her patient, agrees to give him company during his killing spree.

In the preview, the serial killer doctor can be seen asking his fake wife "Are you, in this very moment, observing or participating?" while their helpless victim tries to crawl away from his predators.

"Bedelia, for the first time, is party to it," Gillian Anderson, who plays Bedelia's character, says in the season 3 preview video. "She could be as dark as Hannibal, but you don't know."

"She has a curiosity for the dark side of the world that she cannot run away from," Mikkelsen (Hannibal) adds in the video.

Laurence Fishburne (Will Graham) teases that season 3 of the NBC thriller is a completely new series that will showcase a new Hannibal.

The first three episodes of the series are titled Antipasto, Primavera and Secondo. FBI agent Will Graham meanwhile recovers from the stab wounds he received from Lecter and will dig deeper into his dark childhood.

In the process he will meet Lecter's aunt Lady Murasaki, and her attendant Chiyo (Tao Okamoto). While in the novel, Murasaki played the vital source of information for Graham, in the NBC series, Chiyo will take centre stage.

"Lady Murasaki is an older woman. It's the same story, but the character is Chiyo, who is also from the literature. She's Lady Murasaki's attendant. So, we're expanding that character and her history with Hannibal," show creator Bryan Fuller told Collider.

"There were a lot of things that we needed the character to do, story wise, that didn't make sense for Lady Murasaki to do. With Chiyo, we had a greater rein. I'm very excited to work with her."

The synopsis for Antipasto reads as follows:

"The dark and haunting series "Hannibal" returns for a third season, revealing the fates of characters hanging in the balance and their continuing psychological cat-and-mouse games. After the shocking events of the season finale, Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen) is on the run in Europe - accompanied by his psychiatrist Bedelia Du Maurier (Gillian Anderson) - sporting a new identity but servicing the same insatiable appetite. As the lives of Will (Hugh Dancy), Jack (Laurence Fishburne) and Alana (Caroline Dhavernas) converge toward Hannibal again, their deadly dance turns in startling and unexpected ways, and nothing will ever be the same again."

Hannibal season 3 premieres on 4 June on NBC.