Fuller knew from the start he didn't have the rights to the likes of Clarice Starling but he still had a plan laid out and he has said publicly that he'd work around not having the rights and make it work.
Yeah, that is true, but he also said he held out hope that they would be able to get the rights, or at least some of the characters involved in SOtL and get them in Hannibal. He would work around if he had to, but he would have preferred not to. I'm still hopeful for another season.