Breaking Bad Creator Vince Gilligan Is Done With Villains — Next Up: Pluribus

Vince Gilligan is back soon, and he is taking a sharp left turn. The Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul creator has a new sci-fi series called Pluribus headed to Apple TV+, and instead of another descent-into-darkness anti-hero, he is chasing something else entirely: actual good guys.

So what is Pluribus?

• Rhea Seehorn (yes, Kim Wexler herself) stars as Carol Sturka.
• The hook: Carol appears to be the only person on Earth immune to a virus that makes everyone else perfectly, creepily happy.
• Genre-wise, this is Gilligan doing sci-fi, and he is keeping most of it under wraps.
• Premieres November 7 on Apple TV+.

Gilligan is done glamorizing the bad guys

Gilligan has built two of TV's most famous anti-heroes in Walter White and Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman, but he says he got tired of that lane. Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, he said he has watched people in the real world take behavioral cues from characters like Tony Soprano, Michael Corleone, and yes, Walter White. That is not what he intended.

"Walter White was always meant to be a cautionary tale; he is not aspirational."

He is not telling other writers what to do — there are still plenty of compelling villains to invent — but for him, it is time to try something different.

This has been on his mind for a while

Earlier this year, he said we collectively made villains a little too alluring. Name-checks included Michael Corleone, Hannibal Lecter, Darth Vader, and Tony Soprano — the kind of characters who are so indelible that audiences start thinking, 'Those guys are badass; I want to be that cool.' When that happens, the warning label falls off and the characters become aspirational. His counter-move with Pluribus is to spotlight more old-school heroes — people who give more than they take and think kindness, tolerance, and sacrifice are strengths, not suckers' bets.

Behind-the-scenes scale swing

As for the show itself, Gilligan told GamesRadar+ the scope is 'globetrotting, world-spanning.' He also said he and his producing team have leveled up over the years — the size of Pluribus is not something they would have attempted, or likely pulled off, five or ten years ago. That is a notable production swing for a guy whose last universe thrived on tight, lived-in corners of Albuquerque.

Bottom line

Pluribus is a mystery box with a killer premise, Rhea Seehorn front and center, and Gilligan aiming his moral compass at true-blue heroes for a change. It lands November 7 on Apple TV+.