Prime Video has set a January 2027 launch for Criminal, its adaptation of the comics by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, with Charlie Hunnam, Adria Arjona and Emilia Clarke leading an extensive ensemble cast.
🎬 Watch the Trailer
The series will premiere in two installments totaling eight episodes. The four-episode Part 1, titled Coward, begins streaming Wednesday, January 13, 2027. Another four episodes follow with Part 2, Lawless, on Wednesday, January 27.
A trailer previews the show’s interconnected crime story, which centers on childhood friends Leo Patterson and Ricky Lawless, played by Hunnam and Gus Halper. The pair were raised around crime and find themselves confronting secrets and consequences that have followed them for years.
A Crime Story Told in Two Parts
In Coward, Leo and Ricky are haunted by a childhood murder and drawn into the fallout from a failed heist. As long-buried family secrets emerge, the two criminals are forced to face a history they have been unable to escape.
Lawless shifts attention to Tracy Lawless, played by Luke Evans. Twenty years earlier, Tracy chose the Army rather than prison and left his former life behind. His brother Ricky’s involvement with dangerous people brings Tracy back, pushing him to confront the life he fled and the implications of belonging to the Lawless family.
Arjona plays Greta, a car thief from Leo’s past who is described as “sharp-tongued.” Clarke portrays Mallory, Ricky’s girlfriend, who is worried about what he may be willing to do to survive. Both characters become caught up in the criminal action surrounding Leo and Ricky.
The Criminal Ensemble
Alongside Hunnam, Arjona, Clarke, Evans and Halper, the cast includes Richard Jenkins, Kadeem Hardison, John Hawkes and Logan Browning.
The series will also feature Patrick J. Adams, Garrett Hedlund, Michael Mando, Taylor Selé, Chris Diamantopoulos, Marvin Jones III and Pat Healy in recurring or guest-starring roles.
Brubaker and Phillips serve as executive producers on the adaptation with Philipp A. Barnett, Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Jordan Harper, Sarah Carbiener, Dee Rees and Halley Gross. Cortney Norris and Minhal Baig are co-executive producers.
Amazon MGM Studios produces the series with Basement Gang, Inc., Big Indie Pictures, Inc., Gowanus Projections, Inc. and Legendary Television Productions, Inc.
ShowBiz Take
The newly confirmed schedule gives Criminal a clearly defined two-stage rollout rather than presenting its eight episodes as one undivided season. The separate Coward and Lawless titles also reflect the series’ shifting focus: the first installment follows Leo and Ricky as their shared past resurfaces, while the second brings Tracy’s earlier decision and return to the criminal world to the forefront.
That structure is especially significant for a story built around buried family history, overlapping relationships and characters being pulled back toward lives they attempted to leave. The two-week gap between installments allows Part 1’s failed heist and childhood mystery to establish the stakes before Part 2 expands the Lawless family story through Tracy.
The trailer also places the show’s three headline stars within different parts of that web. Hunnam’s Leo is directly tied to Ricky and their childhood trauma, Arjona’s Greta re-enters from Leo’s past, and Clarke’s Mallory faces the potential consequences of Ricky’s choices.
What Happens Next?
All four episodes of Criminal: Coward will arrive on Prime Video on January 13, 2027. Viewers will then wait two weeks for the four-episode Lawless installment, which starts streaming January 27.