Giancarlo Esposito Takes on Venice’s Criminal Underworld in His Graphic Novel ‘The Venetian’
Giancarlo Esposito has built much of his career on playing calm, calculating crime bosses. Esposito is most famous for portraying calm and deadly kingpin Gus Fring in Breaking Bad and its spinoff/prequel Better Call Saul. He has portrayed more memorable villains in the likes of The Mandalorian and The Boys.
He’s also been branching out beyond acting. Esposito is getting several of his own projects up and running, including being close to finalizing a deal on a project based on King’s 2024 novella “The Dreamers,” in collaboration with Guy Busick.
Now one of those passion projects is coming into focus. Esposito has co-created a new graphic novel, ‘The Venetian’, with screenwriter Matt Wheeler, and the book’s cover has been revealed. The story follows a retired assassin who returns to Venice’s criminal underground after the son he abandoned years ago is kidnapped.
The publisher’s description fills in more of the story. Seventeen years ago, legendary assassin Matteo Moro vanished after one final job, leaving behind the woman he loved and their unborn son in the hope of protecting them from the violent life that had consumed his own family.
Giancarlo Esposito has co-created a new graphic novel ‘THE VENETIAN’ with writer Matt Wheeler The graphic novel follows a retired assassin who returns to Venice’s criminal underground after the son he abandoned years ago is kidnapped. (Source: https://t.co/NObD6aMvkw) https://t.co/JOpwr4FGOW
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) November 11, 2026
The book is billed as a dark, character-driven thriller. It’s described as a cinematic neo-noir graphic novel of family, sacrifice, and revenge set in the dangerous underworld of Venice, and as an action-packed crime thriller about fathers and sons, the sins we inherit, and the terrible price of coming home.
Giancarlo Esposito has co-created his own graphic novel titled ‘THE VENETIAN’. The novel follows a story of commitment and sacrifice set against the backdrop of Venice’s criminal underworld. (Source: Deadline) https://t.co/G60qVxlTpX
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) March 19, 2024
The cover, shown in the shared images, features a stern figure in a dark fedora and suit against a pale Venetian backdrop, with Esposito’s name above those of Wheeler and artist Jay Martin.
The project is personal for the actor. When the book was first announced, Esposito described it as “an unusual original story that exemplifies my deeply rich Afro-Italian heritage,” in a statement to Deadline.
That background is part of his own story. Esposito was born in Copenhagen to Giovanni Esposito, an Italian stagehand and carpenter from Naples, and Elizabeth Foster, an opera and nightclub singer from Alabama. The family lived in Rome until he was five and then moved to New York.
Esposito didn’t make the book alone. Screenwriter Matt Wheeler and writer and storyboard artist Jay Martin share the co-creator credit. Wheeler is also working with Esposito on the six-part AMC crime thriller ‘Parish’, where he is a co-executive producer.
Martin brings graphic novel experience of his own. He wrote and illustrated his first graphic novel, ‘Lost Boy’, which was published by Dark Horse Comics in 2023. He described the setting as a modern noir in the decaying Venetian underbelly, with Esposito’s protagonist at its center.
The graphic novel may only be the first step. During a December 2025 appearance at the Red Sea International Film Festival, Esposito told Deadline he had been developing the story as a graphic novel with the intention of turning it into a film.
Fans still have a while to wait for the book itself. ‘The Venetian’ is being published through Gallery 13, the Simon & Schuster imprint. Retail listings give the hardcover an on-sale date of June 29, 2027, with 208 pages.
For an actor so closely linked with criminal masterminds, a story about a retired killer pulled back into the underworld seems like a natural fit. This time, though, Esposito is the one shaping the story.
Would you like to see Giancarlo Esposito play Matteo Moro in a film adaptation of his graphic novel ‘The Venetian’?
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