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“ | Every day, I'll feed Mason some new part of you. Don't worry, doctor. You will always be cooked to perfection. | „ |
~ Cordell taunting Hannibal Lecter. |
Dr. Cordell Doemling is a supporting antagonist in the Thomas Harris' book Hannibal and one of the two secondary antagonists (alongside Paul Krendler) of its 2001 film adaption. He returns as the secondary antagonist in Season 3 of the NBC series Hannibal, in which he is portrayed as the caretaker and henchman of Mason Verger who helps Verger in his vendetta against Hannibal Lecter.
In the TV series, he was portrayed by Glenn Fleshler, who also portrayed Errol Childress in True Detective, Goran Pazar in Barry, One of the Smileys in Manhunt, Myron Gold in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Timur in Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony. In the film, he was portrayed by Željko Ivanek, who also portrayed James Devlin in Oz, Andre Drazen in 24, Arthur Grable in The X-Files, Phillip Swann in Law & Order, Everett Drake in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Mark Jennings in Tex.
Biography[]
Novel synopsis[]
In Thomas Harris' novel Hannibal, the character is actually two people. Cordell is a minor antagonist. He is Mason Verger's personal physician, and a fellow sex offender. (It is implied that he, like Verger, is a pedophile.) Cordell assists eagerly with Mason’s plans, and helps him torment children. Mason’s sister Margot kills him with a hammer as Lecter and Clarice Starling escape from Verger's farm.
Dr. Doemling, meanwhile, is a psychiatrist who offers insight into Lecter’s psyche. He is often insulting and belittling of others such as Barney, Lecter’s former caregiver. However, Barney reminds Doemling that Lecter made him cry during a visit to the asylum and offered an extremely harsh review of one of his books.
Film Synopsis[]
In the 2001 film adaptation of the novel, Cordell is Mason Verger's doctor and much-abused right hand man. He reluctantly goes along with Verger's plan to kidnap Lecter and Starling. However, when Lecter suggests that Cordell kill Verger, he pushes his hated boss into the boar pen in which Lecter was intended to die, where Verger is devoured by wild boars.
TV series synopsis[]
Cordell Doemling is hired by Mason Verger to become his caretaker in place of his sister Margot. When Mason has Hannibal Lecter kidnapped along with Will Graham as part of his plot to get revenge against Lecter for disfiguring and paralyzing him, he orders Cordell to cut off Graham's face and graft it to Mason's own, and then over a period of time feed each part of Lecter to Mason. Cordell is all too happy to comply.
However, Alana Bloom releases Lecter in order to save Graham and stops Cordell from cutting off Graham's face. Lecter then shoots and kills Cordell, cuts off his face, and places it over that of an unconscious Mason, who is later killed by Alana and Margot.
Trivia[]
- Unlike his film counterpart, who murdered Mason after getting fed up with his abuse, the TV version is a sadist, who is all too happy to comply with Mason's schemes.
- The original Cordell from the books is similar to his TV series counterpart. However, even the book version, who was fully on board with Mason and implied to be a child molester, never showed his TV series counterpart's level of sadism.
- As the movie adaptation omitted Margot Verger, Cordell is instead merged with the character's role as he is mistreated by Mason and ends up being the one to kill him. The film Cordell is the only version to survive.
- In the TV series, Cordell is Lecter's last murder victim prior to his arrest.