Captain Marvel Directors Helming Amazon's New Graphic Novel Adaptation Criminal

Amazon Prime Video is adapting the award-winning graphic novel series Criminal, and the streaming service has tapped Captain Marvel writer-director team Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck to direct the first four episodes, with graphic novel writer Ed Brubaker writing the pilot episode. Brubaker is also serving as showrunner alongside crime fiction writer Jordan Harper. 

Criminal has already been ordered to series and is reportedly in pre-production over in Portland. The graphic novel series follows "Leo, a professional pickpocket who is also a legendary heist-planner and thief. But there's a catch with Leo, he won't work any job that he doesn't call all the shots on, he won't allow guns, and the minute things turn south, he's looking for any exit that won't land him in prison. But when he's lured into a risky heist, all his rules go out the window, and he ends up on the run from the cops and the bad men who double-crossed him. Now Leo must come face-to-face with the violence he's kept bottled up inside for 20 years, and nothing will ever be the same for him again."

That's just the beginning of what Criminal does with its narrative: the series (written by Brubaker and drawn by artist Sean Phillips) is actually the "interweaving saga of several generations of families tied together by the crimes and murders of the past." that examined crime families in the Underworld of the fictional Center City, across several generations. The story of Leo Patterson and his criminal upbringing connects back to his father Tommy; Tommy's partner Ivan, as well as portions of story dedicated to the Lawless Family, a military/crime family with whom Leo and Tommy have bad blood. 

Criminal was praised for being an examination of, and smart twist on, crime genre tropes, while also establishing its own hard-boiled Noir story. It won the 2007 Eisner Award for "Best New Series" and followed that with Eisner wins in 2012 (Best Limited Series) and 2019 (Best Graphic Album – New). The series has arguably been ongoing since 2006, and has grown into a much bigger crime-world universe, featuring various characters and stories. 

Brubaker and Harper will also executive produce the Criminal TV series alongside Sean Phillips, Sarah Carbiener, Phillip Barnett and Legendary Television. The series is being produced by Amazon MGM Studios.

Source: Deadline