Prime Video’s ‘Criminal’ Gives Fans a Release Date and a First Look at Charlie Hunnam’s Gritty Crime Saga

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ ‘Criminal’ has long been a favorite among crime comic fans. Published by Image Comics and launched in 2006, the multiple Eisner Award-winning series has grown into an interconnected crime universe that Image calls one of the most celebrated crime comics of the past 2 decades.

The road to a live-action adaptation has been long. Legendary Television began developing it in 2019 with Brubaker adapting his own work, and Amazon officially ordered the series in January 2024 before filming began that June in Portland, Oregon.

Now fans are finally getting a glimpse of the show. As Film Updates shared, Prime Video has released a first look at ‘Criminal’, starring Charlie Hunnam, Adria Arjona, Emilia Clarke and Luke Evans. The series will arrive in 2 parts. Part 1 premieres on January 13, followed by Part 2 on January 27, and TVLine reports that each part includes 4 episodes.

Season 1 adapts the comic’s first 2 story arcs, ‘Coward’ and ‘Lawless’, and each part takes its title from one of them. According to TVLine, Part 1 follows Leo Patterson and his childhood friend Ricky Lawless, who were raised in a criminal world and are haunted by a childhood murder and a heist gone wrong.

First look at ‘CRIMINAL’ starring Charlie Hunnam, Adria Arjona, Emilia Clarke and Luke Evans. Part one premieres January 13, part two premieres January 27 on Prime Video. https://t.co/nRzneHmpcP

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) November 5, 2026

As decades-old family secrets come to light, the story widens. In Part 2, Tracy Lawless, who chose the Army over prison 20 years earlier, is pulled back into the life he left behind after Ricky gets tangled up with dangerous people.

Hunnam plays Leo, known as Coward, with Gus Halper as Ricky and Evans as Tracy. Arjona plays Greta, a sharp-tongued car thief from Leo’s past, while Clarke plays Mallory, Ricky’s girlfriend, who fears what he’ll do to get by.

Richard Jenkins plays Ivan, a former robber living with dementia, and Kadeem Hardison plays Gnarly, a former boxer. John Hawkes appears as Sebastian Hyde, a crime-world figure recovering from a stroke, and Logan Browning plays Jenny, an Internal Affairs detective.

The recurring and guest cast includes Patrick J. Adams, Garrett Hedlund, Michael Mando, Taylor Selé, Chris Diamantopoulos, Marvin Jones III and Pat Healy. That deep bench gives the series plenty of room to explore its sprawling criminal underworld.

Brubaker created the series and serves as co-showrunner with Jordan Harper, who joined in January 2024. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck directed the first 4 episodes, and Dee Rees directed the final 4.

Brubaker wrote the first episode’s teleplay, with Harper, Sarah Carbiener, John Covarrubias, Minhal Baig and Cortney Norris writing the others. Phillips joins Brubaker as an executive producer alongside Boden, Fleck, Harper, Carbiener, Rees and Halley Gross.

Image Comics has been preparing readers for the adaptation. The first 2 collected volumes, ‘Criminal, Vol. 1: Coward’ and ‘Criminal, Vol. 2: Lawless’, have returned to print with new cover paintings and designs.

Brubaker and Phillips also released 2 new graphic novels ahead of the premiere, ‘The Knives’ and ‘Five Gears In Reverse’. Those releases give new readers an easy way into the world before the show arrives.

The series is produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Legendary Television, among other companies. With 2 premiere dates just 2 weeks apart, Prime Video is setting up ‘Criminal’ as one of its first big releases of the new year. For fans of the comic, it’s a long-awaited chance to see Brubaker and Phillips’ crime world on screen, with the creators directly involved.

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