Posted in: Amazon Studios, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: amazon, criminal, ed brubaker, preview, prime video, sean phillips

Criminal: Luke Evans Joins Amazon's Brubaker/Phillips Series Adapt

Prime Video's series adaptation of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips's Criminal has reportedly cast Luke Evans (The Alienist) in a lead role.

The depth and talent of the cast announced so far for Prime Video's live-action series adaptation of Ed Brubaker (Westworld, Batman: Caped Crusader) and Sean Phillips's multi-Eisner Award-winning graphic novel series Criminal is so impressive that it's almost getting silly at this point—but the folks behind the streaming series aren't quite done yet. Variety is reporting exclusively that Luke Evans (The Alienist, Nine Perfect Strangers) has also joined the cast in a lead role. Evans is reportedly set to play Tracy Lawless. Here's what the official overview that was released has to say: "Tracy Lawless was pushed out of the outlaw life of his family (his father is the legendary Teeg Lawless, and Ricky (Gus Halper) is his little brother) at the age of 18 when a judge gave him a choice of prison or the military. In the Army, Tracy thrived, his wild outlaw instincts getting funneled into the strict discipline of the military. He was placed into the Special Forces and trained to be an expert in covert operations and guerilla warfare. But underneath it all, the Lawless blood still pumps in his heart."

Evans joins a cast that includes Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under), Adria Arjona (Hit Man, Andor), Pat Healy (Better Call Saul), Taylor Selé (BMF), John Hawkes (HBO's True Detective: Night Country), Gus Halper (Rustin), Aliyah Camacho (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), Michael Mando (Better Call Saul), Marvin Jones III (Halo), Michael Xavier (Wild Cards), and Dominic Burgess (Palm Royale). Both Brubaker & Phillips are set to executive produce, with Brubaker penning the pilot script and serving as co-showrunner – alongside acclaimed crime fiction author Jordan Harper (Hightown, Gotham, The Mentalist). In addition, writer-directors Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck (Captain Marvel, Masters of the Air) have been tapped to direct the first four episodes and executive-produce.

Brubaker and Phillips are considered by many to be one of the most acclaimed teams in the history of comics, having spent over two decades creating such hits as Criminal, The Fade Out, Kill or Be Killed, Reckless, Pulp, and many others. In fact, the "grand masters of crime comics" have seen their best-selling library of graphic novels translated around the world in over a dozen languages – with Criminal as the best-selling, internationally-published graphic novel series.

Brubaker has left an impressive imprint during his time with the comics industry, penning key arcs for Marvel & DC Comics –  including Batman, Catwoman, The Immortal Iron Fist, and Captain America, including creating the character of the Winter Soldier. Along with already impressive television work, Harper is the award-winning author of She Rides Shotgun (currently being adapted as a feature film with Taron Egerton attached) and Everybody Knows (named as a "Best Crime Novel of the Year" by The New York Times for 2023).

"'Criminal" is a beloved graphic novel created by the most iconic team in the history of comics," shared Nick Pepper, head of U.S. SVOD wholly-owned development, Amazon MGM Studios. "I know our global Prime Video customers will immediately embrace this story, and I look forward to working with Ed, Jordan, and the team to bring it to the screen." Prime Video's Criminal is executive produced by Brubaker and Harper, alongside Phillips, Sarah Carbiener, and Phillip Barnett. Legendary Television will also serve as an executive producer, with Amazon MGM Studios producing the series.

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