Charlie Hunnam’s long-running role as Jax Teller on Sons of Anarchy has stuck with him. Heck, Apple TV+ even promoted the Shantaram series with a photo of Charlie on a bike even though he barely rides during a entire season. That series, unfortunately, arrived after a prolonged and disastrous production that turned into a money pit. And so, despite an enthused audience, Charlie will no longer portray Linbaba the semi-reformed bank robber, but we know that this type of character (see also Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen) is where Hunnam thrives onscreen.
To his credit also, Hunnam knows which projects to avoid, and since that mythical reunion project for Sons of Anarchy might remain a fantasy, it’s time to talk about how Hunnam will bring his crime-soaked swagger back to TV.
Plot
This project sounds exactly like what Hunnam needs to back into an episodic groove after Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon, and the “criminal” element is even stated right there in the Prime Video/Amazon’s series title, although it sounds like other criminals will be dragging Hunnam’s character on the show.
Criminal, a series built upon “an interlocking universe of crime stories” involving multiple criminal families. As relayed by Variety, the show will largely revolve around Hunnam as Leo, “[a] brilliant master thief who sees all the angles, and specializes in plans with no guns and no violence. Like a chess player, Leo thinks three moves ahead. Other crooks think he’s a coward, especially compared to his father Tommy, who went to jail for murdering the most feared man in the city, Teeg Lawless.”
The series is adapted from the same-named graphic novel by frequent collaborators Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Batman: Gotham Noir, Incognito), and thus far, the first four episodes will be directed by Captain Marvel helmers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
Cast
Criminal has cast Adria Arjona (who recently starred with Glen Powell in Netflix’s Hit Man) as a car thief along with Kadeem Harrison (as a boxer), Emilia Clarke (as an armed robber), Richard Jenkins (as a friend of Leo’s late father), Luke Evans (as a former thief turned military man), John Hawkes (as a criminal underworld shark), Gus Harper, and Dominic Burgess.
Release Date
The show entered preproduction in April 2024 for filming in Portland, Oregon. A streaming date for 2025 looks totally plausible, although Amazon hasn’t tipped their hand on a window yet.
Trailer
No footage = no trailer, but I have a hunch that Hunnam would prefer that no kissing scenes appear in this show. Here’s proof via Team Coco:
