Criminal: Hunnam and Clarke's Prime Video Series Sets Date
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Prime Video unveils the first teaser and images for Criminal, an eight-episode crime saga with Charlie Hunnam and Emilia Clarke arriving in January 2027.
Prime Video released on Thursday (Nov. 5) the first teaser and official images for Criminal, an eight-episode crime series based on the graphic novels by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Starring Charlie Hunnam and Emilia Clarke, the show will arrive in two parts: Coward, with four episodes, on January 13, 2027, and Lawless, with the remaining four, on January 27. The announcement came from Amazon MGM Studios and confirms an exclusive premiere in more than 240 countries and territories.
The material marks the first video preview of the adaptation, which has been in development since 2019 and was officially ordered by Amazon in January 2024. The production brings together two names from franchises with enormous reach — Hunnam, of Sons of Anarchy, and Clarke, of Game of Thrones — in roles that move them away from the characters that made them famous: he plays a criminal trying to leave the underworld; she plays an armed robber.
Two parts, eight episodes and two dates
Criminal will not arrive all at once. Prime Video decided to split the first season into two batches of four chapters, separated by two weeks. The first part is titled Coward, the name of the arc that opened the comics; the second is called Lawless, a reference to the family of central characters in the story.
| Part | Title | Episodes | Premiere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part 1 | Coward | 4 episodes | January 13, 2027 |
| Part 2 | Lawless | 4 episodes | January 27, 2027 |
The choice has a practical effect for viewers. Instead of waiting week by week for eight chapters, audiences get half the season at once and need to wait only 14 days for the conclusion. For the platform, the format keeps the conversation going on social media for a month, with two release peaks instead of one. It follows the same block-release logic used by other big-budget streaming productions, which try to balance binge-watching with keeping a title in the news cycle.
What happens in Coward and Lawless
The first part follows Leo Patterson (Hunnam) and his best friend, Ricky Lawless (Gus Halper). Both were raised in crime and carry the weight of a murder from their childhood. Leo tries to pull away from that world; Ricky, by contrast, wants to follow in the footsteps of his father, a legendary outlaw. A heist that goes wrong puts them face to face with a past neither can escape.
"Family secrets buried for decades are revealed as two criminals, Leo Patterson and his best friend Ricky Lawless, are haunted by a murder from their childhood and a heist that goes wrong, bringing them face-to-face with a past they can't run from."
In the second part, the focus shifts to Tracy Lawless (Luke Evans), Ricky's older brother. Twenty years earlier, Tracy chose the Army over prison and never looked back. When Ricky gets in too deep with the wrong people, however, he must return to the life he fled and face what it really means to be a Lawless. The official synopsis sums up the arc as the reunion of two brothers who must recognize each other as family in order to survive.
Along the way, Greta (Adria Arjona), a sharp-tongued car thief from Leo's past, and Mallory (Emilia Clarke), Ricky's girlfriend, who fears what he will do to get by, enter the picture. The official description promises gunfights, heists and a tragic romance — elements that bring the series close to film noir and family crime sagas, but with the structure of an interlocking universe of crime stories.
A criminal universe born in comics
Criminal is based on the graphic novel series of the same name created by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, published by Image Comics and winner of multiple Eisner Awards, the main honor in American comics. The work follows generations of criminal families and the murders that connect their pasts — a structure that allowed the duo to build standalone stories inside the same universe, with characters who reappear in different arcs.
The first two arcs of the comics, Coward and Lawless, were originally published in 2006 and 2007 and now give their names to the two halves of the season. The adaptation spent years in development at Legendary Television, with Brubaker writing the adaptation himself. In February 2023, the project gained new momentum at Amazon Studios; the official series order came in January 2024, with Jordan Harper hired as co-showrunner alongside Brubaker.
Renewed interest in the title also moved the publishing market. In January 2025, Image Comics reissued the Coward and Lawless volumes with new covers, and the duo published two new original graphic novels before the series premiere: The Knives, in September 2025, and Five Gears in Reverse, in June 2026. For anyone who wants to approach the TV adaptation with the source material in hand, the path is open.
Cast, directors and production
Beyond Hunnam, Arjona, Evans and Clarke, the main cast brings together names familiar to series audiences. Richard Jenkins plays Ivan, a former robber now living with dementia who is a friend of Leo's father. Kadeem Hardison is Gnarly, a former boxer and friend of Leo and Ivan. John Hawkes plays Sebastian Hyde, a crime figure recovering from a recent stroke. Logan Browning plays Jenny, an Internal Affairs detective raised alongside Leo.
- Charlie Hunnam — Leo Patterson, a criminal who plans jobs without guns or violence;
- Adria Arjona — Greta, a car thief and Angie's mother;
- Luke Evans — Tracy Lawless, a former criminal who joined the Army Special Forces;
- Emilia Clarke — Mallory, an armed robber and Ricky's girlfriend;
- Gus Halper — Ricky Lawless, son of the criminal Teeg Lawless;
- Richard Jenkins — Ivan; Kadeem Hardison — Gnarly; John Hawkes — Sebastian Hyde; Logan Browning — Jenny.
The recurring and guest cast includes Michael Mando, Garrett Hedlund, Patrick J. Adams, Pat Healy, Taylor Selé, Aliyah Camacho, Marvin Jones III, Michael Xavier, Dominic Burgess, Chris Diamantopoulos, Lawrence Kao, Katie Stevens, John Pyper-Ferguson, Robert Lee Hart, Aina Brei'yon and Kyle Davis. Directing duties were split between Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who helm the first four episodes, and Dee Rees, responsible for the final four. Filming began on June 10, 2024, in Portland, Oregon, including at the historic Star Theater, and continued through October of that year.
Teaser and what to expect from the premiere
The official teaser was published on Prime Video's YouTube channel and is the first chance to see the cast in motion. The video confirms the show's dark tone and introduces the main characters without revealing how either part ends. The platform also released a set of scene images featuring Hunnam, Clarke, Arjona and Evans in character.
Prime Video's bet on Criminal adds to a crime slate that already includes short-season, star-driven titles such as Reacher, which cemented the eight-episodes-per-season format. The difference here lies in the source: instead of adapting novels, the production starts from a graphic work praised by critics and fellow comics creators, with a universe already mapped across dozens of issues.
For viewers who like to binge, the two-part split demands patience, but it also creates two dates to discuss the series. For those who prefer to follow the source material, the comics remain available and were reissued precisely to ride the wave of the adaptation. The list of Prime Video shows where every episode is a 10/10 helps explain the quality standard the platform is trying to repeat here.
With eight episodes, two accomplished directing teams and a cast that mixes franchise stars and award-winning actors, Criminal arrives as one of Prime Video's strongest bets for early 2027. The first half, Coward, premieres on January 13; the second, Lawless, on January 27. The series will be available in more than 240 countries and territories. The full announcement and official images can be found on the Amazon MGM Studios press site.
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