UpdatedThu, November 5, 2026 at 4:29 PM UTC
For the last 20 years, one of the best and longest-running comic series has been Criminal by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips. The book is an anthology of crime stories all set within the same world, but focused on different characters.
Now the show is becoming a TV series for Amazon’s Prime Video service, with Brubaker and Phillips both involved as executive producers. (You may not know Brubaker by name but as the co-creator of the Winter Soldier character, you probably know his work.)
Criminal’s first season adapts the comic’s first volume which consisted of two separate storylines: “Coward” and “Lawless.” Prime is actually releasing them that way too; as two batches of episodes released several weeks apart.
The trailer for the series, though, features footage from both parts, and shows off stars Charlie Hunnam, Adria Arjona, Emilia Clarke, and Luke Evans, who looks really mean and nasty, like a Sean Phillips illustration come to life.
Here is the series’ official synopsis from Amazon:
Criminal begins with the story of two friends, Leo Patterson (Charlie Hunnam) and Ricky Lawless (Gus Halper), one trying to fight his way out of the world of crime they were raised in, the other desperate to follow in the footsteps of his father, a legendary outlaw. And when Ricky’s older brother Tracy (Luke Evans) returns home from the Army, their tragic family history comes home with him. Drawn into their orbit are Greta (Adria Arjona), a sharp-tongued car thief from Leo’s past, and Mallory (Emilia Clarke), Ricky’s girlfriend, who fears what he’ll do to get by. Gunfights, heists, and tragic romance are the order of the day, but will anyone make it out alive?
Criminaldebuts on Prime Video on January 13 with its adaptation of “Coward.” Then Part 2, with the TV version of “Lawless” follows on January 27. Each part consists of four episodes.
