Prime Video Finally Sets ‘Criminal’ Release Date in Two Parts

We lost track of the forthcoming Prime Video series Criminal sometime after casting was announced in early 2024. The series was originally announced as in development with Legendary Pictures during the pre-pandemic era, when everyone was developing projects for the multiple streaming services that were preparing to debut in 2019 and 2020. Amazon Studios eventually picked up the series, but considering the initial cast was mostly American, and the series is based on the graphic novels of the same name by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, we tabled it until there was more to go on and then promptly forgot all about it.

The series has now resurfaced with a release date and full cast, including several British favorites; Amazon announced it would debut on Prime Video (not just the pay-more-for-it add-ons) in early 2027. However, it will not be a weekly release; Amazon seems to have failed to learn the very obvious lesson of the last five years that binge-dropping episodes at once – even in batches – is not a recipe for launching a successful series.

(The streaming service has even actually reversed course in some cases: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, for example, was granted weekly releases for Seasons 1 and 2, but will now be batched-dropped over Thanksgiving for Season 3.)

Sadly, despite being a respectable eight episodes, the new series will arrive in two parts, with the first four episodes banded together as Criminal: Part 1 “Coward” and Criminal: Part 2 “Lawless.”

Here is the series’ synopsis:

Criminal begins with two friends, Leo Patterson and Ricky Lawless: 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. When Ricky’s older brother Tracy returns home from the Army, their tragic family history comes home with him. Greta, a sharp-tongued car thief from Leo’s past, and Mallory, Ricky’s girlfriend, who fears what he’ll do to get by, are drawn into their orbit. Gunfights, heists, and tragic romance are the order of the day, but will anyone make it out alive?

Part 1 “Coward”: Family secrets buried for decades surface as two criminals, Leo Patterson and his best friend Ricky Lawless, are haunted by a childhood murder and a heist gone wrong, bringing them face-to-face with a past they can’t outrun.

Part 2 “Lawless”: 20 years ago, Tracy Lawless chose the Army over prison and never looked back. But when his brother Ricky gets in too deep with the wrong people, Tracy must return to the life he fled, and face what it really means to be a Lawless.

The series stars a mix of British and American actors, including Charlie Hunnam (The Gentlemen) as Leo Patterson; Gus Halper (Dickinson) as Ricky Lawless; Luke Evans (Nine Perfect Strangers) as Tracey Lawless; Adria Arjona (Andor) as Greta; Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Mallory; Richard Jenkins (Berlin Station) as Ivan P. Heller; Logan Browning (Dear White People) as Jenny Waters; Kadeem Hardison (Euphoria) as Gnarly Brown; and John Hawkes (Deadwood) as Sebastian Hyde.

The recurring and guest cast includes Patrick J. Adams (The Bombing of Pan Am 103), Michael Xavier (Murdoch Mysteries), Dominic Burgess (Ghosts), Aliyah Camacho (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), Taylor Selé (Queens), Michael Mando (Better Call Saul), Garrett Hedlund (Reservation Dogs), Katie Stevens (The Bold Type), Chris Diamantopoulos (Mrs. Davis), and Pat Healy (Killers of the Flower Moon).

The series is based on the graphic novels of the same name by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips; Brubaker wrote episodes alongside Sarah Carbiener, Cortney Norris, Jordan Harper, Minhal Baig, and John Covarrubias. Directors Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck (Masters of the Air) helmed all episodes of Part 1, with Dee Rees (Mudbound) directing all episodes of Part 2. Brubaker, Phillips, Carbiener, Norris, Harper, Baig, Boden, Fleck, and Rees all executive produce, alongside Philipp A. Barnett and Halley Gross.

Criminal: Part One “Coward” premieres with all four episodes on Wednesday, January 13, 2027; all four episodes of Part Two “Lawless” premiere Wednesday, January 27, 2027, on Prime Video.

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