Criminal (TV series)

The series follows multiple generations of criminal families and explores the murders that connect their pasts.

Main

• Charlie Hunnam as Leo, aka Coward, a criminal mastermind who plans his jobs using no guns or violence, unlike his father Tommy^[1]
• Richard Jenkins as Ivan, a former robber now suffering from dementia; he is best friends with Leo's dad^[2]
• Adria Arjona as Greta, a driver and car thief who can't get away from the criminal life even after being widowed on a job; she is the mother of Angie^[3]
• Kadeem Hardison as Gnarly, a former boxer and a friend of Leo and Ivan^[4]
• Logan Browning as Jenny, an Internal Affairs detective who was raised with Leo^[5]
• Emilia Clarke as Mallory, an armed robber in a crew and relationship with Ricky Lawless^[6]
• Luke Evans as Tracy Lawless, a former criminal pushed into the military to avoid prison who eventually joins the Army Special Forces^[7]

Recurring

• Pat Healy as Seymour, a thief who worked with Leo's dad at one time^[8]
• John Hawkes as Sebastian Hyde, a shark in the crime world recovering from a recent stroke^[9]
• Taylor Selé as Royal, the manager of Sebastian Hyde's gambling club^[8]
• Gus Halper as Ricky Lawless, an unstable drug-using criminal who grew up with Leo and is the son of feared criminal Teeg Lawless^[10]
• Aliyah Camacho as Angie, Greta's daughter^[10]
• Michael Mando as Jeff, a bad Vice cop who has lost hope in humanity^[10]
• Marvin Jones III as Chester, the chief enforcer for Sebastian Hyde^[11]
• Michael Xavier as Terry, an armed robber who is good friends with Leo, stepfather to Angie, and Greta's new love^[11]
• Dominic Burgess as Delron, a criminal on trial at the mercy of his organization^[11]

Additionally, Garrett Hedlund, Chris Diamantopoulos, Lawrence Kao, Katie Stevens, John Pyper-Ferguson, Robert Lee Hart, Aina Brei'yon, and Kyle Davis are all cast in undisclosed roles.^[12]

A television adaptation of the comic book series Criminal by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips was in initial development at Legendary Television development in 2019 with Brubaker adapting his own work for the screen. In February 2023, Amazon Studios requested further development with Brubaker executive producing with additional writers.^[15] Amazon officially ordered the series in January 2024 and Jordan Harper was hired as co-showrunner with Brubaker.^[16] In April 2024, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were hired to direct the first four episodes.^[17] The latter four episodes were directed by Dee Rees.^[13]

In May 2024, Richard Jenkins, Adria Arjona, Kadeem Hardison, and Charlie Hunnam were the first cast members announced for the series,^[2][3][4][1] In June, Logan Browning was also announced as a series regular,^[5] with recurring roles added for Pat Healy, Taylor Selé, John Hawkes, Gus Halper, Aliyah Camacho, Michael Mando, Marvin Jones III, Michael Xavier, and Dominic Burgess.^{[8][9][18][11]} The following month, additional lead roles for Emilia Clarke and Luke Evans were announced.^[6][7]

Filming began in Portland, Oregon, including at the historic Star Theater, on June 10, 2024,^[10][18] with plans to continue through October.^[19]

In January 2025, Image Comics announced they would reissue trade paperbacks of all previously produced Criminal material. Volumes one and two, Coward and Lawless, were republished with new covers and trade dress on January 22, 2025. These books include comics originally released in 2006 and 2007. Further volumes were due for release on a monthly basis through the rest of the year.^[20]

A new original graphic novel written by Brubaker and Philips, called The Knives, was released on September 9, 2025.^[21]