The beloved Criminal series from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips comes to television. On Thursday, a new report revealed that Amazon Studios is finalizing deals for a television adaptation, with Brubaker serving as executive producer and show run. A writer’s room for the series is reportedly already in use. Written by Brubaker with illustrations by Phillips, the series was originally published under Marvel’s Icon imprint and has been published by Image Comics since 2016. an interlocking universe of crime stories.

This comes after years of trying to adapt Criminal in live action, starting with a film adaptation that was supposed to be directed by Kim Jee-Woon, but failed to come to fruition.

What’s Criminal as regards?

The stories of Criminal follow the various characters in the orbit of the fictional Center City, many of whom are linked by a multi-generational history of crime. The series has spawned a total of ten installments to date: Coward, Lawless, The Dead and The Dying, Bad Night, The Sinners, The Last of the Innocent, Wrong Time, Wrong Place, My Heroes Have Always Be Junkies, Bad Weekend, and Cruel summer.

“If you the Criminal books, then it has a few little links to two of the earlier books, but I always make sure all of them Criminal projects can also stand on their own,” explained Brubaker in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2021. “That’s part of what’s great about the Criminal ‘universe’, as you called it, it’s so elastic that any graphic novel or one-off magazine or even a monthly comic can feel like something new and exciting, while also being part of the same world of crime stories.’

“Oh, several times so far, but nothing has come of it yet,” Brubaker said about the potential of one Criminal amendment. “There’s a lot of interest on the TV/streaming side right now, because of the inherent anthology, but I’ve learned over the years not to get too excited until the cameras are rolling, or… um, recording, I guess.”

What do you think of Amazon Studios that may be running Criminal in a television series? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

h/t: deadline