Criminal (2027) by Ed Brubaker and Jordan Harper

US | 2027 | TV Series | Season 1: 8 Episodes | Crime / Drama / Thriller

Premiere: January 13, 2027

Charlie Hunnam Leads a Crime Drama About Families Bound by Generations of Criminal History

Criminal (2027) introduces an interconnected world of families whose relationships are shaped by a shared criminal history across generations. The eight-episode series stars Charlie Hunnam as Leo Patterson, Adria Arjona as Greta and Emilia Clarke as Mallory, alongside Luke Evans, Michael Mando, Richard Jenkins and John Hawkes. Based on the acclaimed comic-book series created by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, the adaptation brings together family connections, criminal legacies and an ensemble of recognizable actors. Its intergenerational premise provides a foundation for exploring how loyalty, belonging and inherited relationships can influence individuals within a criminal environment.

➡️ Storyline: An intergenerational crime drama following interconnected families whose shared criminal history creates a world of relationships, loyalties and potential conflicts.

Why to Watch Criminal: A Star-Studded Crime Drama About Family Loyalty

Criminal combines a recognizable ensemble cast with an established crime-comics property, introducing a television narrative built around families connected through generations of criminal activity.

Reason to Watch	Detail
1. Charlie Hunnam Leads the Cast	Hunnam plays Leo Patterson, bringing his experience in character-driven crime drama to the series.
2. Emilia Clarke and Adria Arjona Join the Ensemble	Clarke plays Mallory and Arjona plays Greta, contributing to the show's interconnected cast.
3. An Intergenerational Crime Story	Families share a criminal history that connects different generations and creates opportunities to explore loyalty and inherited consequences.
4. An Established Comic-Book Adaptation	The series draws on Criminal, the crime-comics property created by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.
5. An Eight-Episode First Season	The series premieres January 13, 2027, beginning with the episode Coward.

➡️ Reason to Watch: A new crime drama bringing together Charlie Hunnam, Emilia Clarke and Adria Arjona in an interconnected world of criminal families, combining established source material with an ensemble cast.

Why Criminal Stands Out: Family Relationships Shape an Intergenerational Crime Story

Criminal distinguishes itself through a narrative structure connecting multiple families across generations of criminal history. Rather than presenting crime exclusively through individual investigations or isolated criminal acts, the series introduces a world in which relationships and shared histories connect different characters. Its ensemble cast, including Charlie Hunnam, Emilia Clarke, Adria Arjona and Luke Evans, supports the potential for multiple character perspectives within the same criminal environment. The adaptation's established comic-book origins provide an existing narrative foundation, while the emphasis on interconnected families creates opportunities to explore loyalty, belonging and the consequences of inherited criminal relationships. Specific conflicts and character motivations remain to be established when the series premieres.

➡️ Why It Stands Out: An intergenerational crime drama that places family connections and shared criminal histories at the center of its narrative, supported by a recognizable ensemble cast.

Movie Trend: Criminal Family Dramas — Family Loyalty Complicates Life Within Criminal Networks

Criminal Family Dramas explore how family relationships, emotional obligations and shared histories influence individuals involved in criminal environments. Criminal reflects this storytelling direction through its premise of multiple families connected by criminal activity across generations. The series offers opportunities to examine the tension between loyalty to family and the consequences of criminal involvement, particularly when inherited relationships shape personal circumstances. By connecting different generations through a shared past, the narrative provides a framework for exploring how criminal histories can influence belonging, identity and personal choices. Its broader storytelling appeal lies in the combination of crime-related suspense with emotionally recognizable family relationships, allowing criminal worlds to be explored through interpersonal dynamics rather than action alone.

➡️ Movie Trend Insight: Criminal family dramas connect crime with loyalty and belonging, exploring how shared histories and family obligations can complicate personal relationships and individual choices.

Broad Trend: Loyalty / Belonging — Family Bonds Influence Identity and Personal Choices

Loyalty / Belonging reflects the human desire to maintain meaningful relationships, feel accepted within a group and preserve connections that provide emotional identity and security. In Criminal, families are linked through a shared criminal history, creating a narrative environment in which family membership and inherited relationships may influence personal loyalties and decisions. The intergenerational premise introduces the possibility of competing obligations between individual interests and established family connections. The series connects this universal need for belonging with a criminal setting, where relationships may carry consequences beyond emotional support. Its broader relevance lies in the tension between maintaining loyalty to one's family and exercising independent judgment, particularly when group expectations conflict with personal interests.

➡️ Broad Trend Insight: Loyalty and belonging shape how individuals relate to families and groups, creating emotional bonds that can influence identity, decisions and personal responsibility.

Viewer Profile: Audiences Interested in Crime, Family Loyalty and Ensemble Drama

Criminal is likely to appeal to crime drama enthusiasts, viewers interested in interconnected family stories and audiences attracted to recognizable ensemble casts. Its established comic-book origins and intergenerational premise create potential relevance for viewers seeking character-driven crime narratives that explore relationships and inherited histories. These profiles are editorial hypotheses rather than measured audience demographics.

Profile	Audience Insight
Core Audience	Crime drama enthusiasts, thriller viewers and fans of ensemble television series
Age / Generation	Potentially adult Millennials, Gen X and older viewers interested in mature crime storytelling
Lifestyle	Interested in crime fiction, character-driven television, complex relationships and comic-book adaptations
Cinema Taste	Crime sagas, family dramas, noir-inspired thrillers and interconnected ensemble narratives
Story Motivation	Discovering how families connected by criminal history navigate relationships and potential conflicts
Discovery Mindset	New crime series, recognizable actors, established comic-book adaptations and character-driven television
Emotional Driver	Loyalty, belonging, identity, trust, tension, power and family attachment

Key Profiles: Three Audiences, Three Reasons to Watch

1. Crime Saga and Family Drama Enthusiasts

Audience Description: Viewers interested in stories about criminal networks, family relationships and the consequences of inherited histories. The series' intergenerational premise offers a framework for exploring how loyalty and family connections intersect with criminal activity.

2. Star-Driven Television Audiences

Audience Description: Fans of Charlie Hunnam, Emilia Clarke, Adria Arjona and the wider ensemble. The combination of recognizable performers provides an important discovery opportunity for audiences following established actors into new television projects.

3. Comic-Book and Noir Crime Fiction Fans

Audience Description: Audiences familiar with Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' Criminal comics, alongside viewers interested in noir-inspired crime storytelling. The adaptation offers an opportunity to discover an established crime-fiction world through television.

➡️ Audience Insight: Criminal connects with audiences through the emotional complexity of family loyalty within a criminal environment, combining intergenerational relationships with recognizable performers and established source material.

What This Series Means for the Industry: Established Crime Comics Become Ensemble Television

Criminal illustrates how established crime-comics properties can provide a foundation for character-driven television built around interconnected families and long-running criminal histories. The adaptation brings together recognizable performers, including Charlie Hunnam, Emilia Clarke and Adria Arjona, with an eight-episode format that can introduce multiple relationships within a shared narrative world. Its intergenerational premise creates opportunities for exploring crime through family connections rather than isolated criminal events. The broader creative opportunity lies in adapting established crime-fiction properties into ensemble dramas that combine familiar intellectual property, star appeal and emotionally complex relationships.

➡️ Industry Insight: Crime-comics adaptations can attract audiences by combining established narrative worlds with recognizable casts and character-driven stories about family loyalty and criminal relationships.

Final Verdict: A Promising Crime Adaptation Built Around Family Loyalty and Criminal History

Criminal (2027) brings Charlie Hunnam, Emilia Clarke and Adria Arjona into an intergenerational crime drama about families connected through shared criminal histories. Its established comic-book source material, recognizable ensemble and eight-episode first season provide a strong foundation for audience interest. With its premiere scheduled for January 13, 2027, no IMDb audience rating or verified reception is yet available, making conclusions about its execution premature. The series' principal attraction lies in its combination of interconnected family relationships, criminal legacies and a cast familiar to audiences of contemporary television drama.

➡️ Final Verdict Insight: An upcoming ensemble crime series with strong potential appeal for viewers interested in family loyalty, interconnected criminal histories and established crime-fiction adaptations.

Final Insights: Family Loyalty Creates Emotional Stakes Within Criminal Worlds

The broader Loyalty / Belonging trend reflects the human desire to preserve meaningful relationships and maintain connections that shape identity. Criminal introduces families linked through generations of criminal history, providing a narrative setting where loyalty and inherited relationships can influence individual circumstances. The series offers opportunities to explore how belonging to a family can create both emotional security and difficult personal obligations.

The Criminal Family Dramas trend transforms these tensions into crime storytelling, combining criminal environments with the emotional complexity of family relationships. Through its intergenerational premise and ensemble structure, the series can examine how shared histories connect individuals and create potential conflicts between personal interests and family obligations. Its central opportunity is to make criminal storytelling emotionally engaging by exploring the consequences of loyalty, belonging and inherited family relationships.

➡️ Final Insight: Loyalty / Belonging → Criminal Family Dramas → Family Bonds Shaping Criminal Relationships. Criminal explores an interconnected world where families share criminal histories across generations. The series highlights the potential of ensemble crime dramas to connect suspense with emotionally recognizable stories about family loyalty, identity and belonging.