Better Call Saul: top 5 spin-off ideas set in the Breaking Bad universe that Netflix should produce

Better Call Saul has been a beacon of light for Netflix during hard times which has seen the platform bleed subscribers amid a cost of living crisis and a growth of streaming competition from the likes of Paramount+.

Like Stranger Things, Better Call Saul has been one of the flagship shows on the platform, helping to stem the tide of subscribers leaving for platforms new.

And now that the grand finale of Better Call Saul has landed on Netflix many of those loyal fans may soon choose to cancel their subscription as the site has no more new Breaking Bad content to offer up.

But the world of Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad still has plenty of rich ground to exploit for future spin-offs which could slow the loss of subscribers if Netflix were to work with AMC on getting them off the ground.

These are five spin-off ideas set in the same universe as Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul with a few working titles for your consideration:

DEA

A series exploring Hank Schrader and Steven Gomez’ work for the Drug Enforcement Agency has all the makings of a hit.

Hank and Gomez both joined the DEA in the 1980s and worked together for decades before their untimely deaths in Breaking Bad, meaning that a prequel series could take place years before the pair begin their search for Heisenberg.

The series could be a buddy cop show full of ‘80s nostalgia, following Hank and Gomez on their early days in the agency, perhaps in a time when Hank still had hair.

Mike Ehrmantraut: Beat Cop

Despite appearing in every season of Better Call Saul and all but one season of Breaking Bad, there is still so much of Mike’s shadowy past to explore. The question is, where to start?

From Better Call Saul, we know that Mike spent 30 years working as a beat cop for the Philadelphia Police Department and was pressured by his colleagues to take bribes.

A gritty series about his life in the force, casting him as a tragic anti-hero who wants to do the right thing but is trapped in a corrupt system would be very interesting.

Other subjects for a Mike Ehmantraut origin series that would be fruitful include his time as a sniper during the Vietnam War, and his time in whichever intelligence service he must have worked in to have developed such extensive knowledge of surveillance.

The Chicken Man

Gustavo Fring has been a vital ingredient that made Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul - without his ominous presence, both shows would not have hit the right tone.

But, like Mike, very little about Gus’ early life is known - he may have been born in Chile and he claimed to have lived in extreme poverty as a child.

A new series could explore how Gus came to America and managed to establish a chicken restaurant chain that was both successful in its own right and a front for an elaborate drug smuggling operation. It would look like the Michael Keaton movie The Founder but with more crime.

Kim Wexler: Attorney-at-Law

We already know plenty about Kim as she is one of the main players in Better Call Saul - yet she doesn’t get so much as a mention in Breaking Bad.

Now that the final episode of Better Call Saul has aired, Kim’s ultimate fate after everything went pear-shaped in Albuquerque has been resolved.

A Kim-centred series could focus on the character during the years that Jimmy McGill is at the height of his Saul Goodman fame, exploring how she is getting on without her partner in criminal law.

The Salamancas

In the same vein as a Gus spin-off, a series exploring the Salamanca cartel and how they came to dominate the drug trade.

The series would focus on the major players in the Salamanca family - Hector and his cousins Lalo, Tuco, Marco, and Leonel.

Such a show would have scope for lots of gunplay, inner rivalries and perhaps cameos from Hank and Gomez as the Salamancas rumble with the DEA.