‘Captain Marvel’ Filmmakers Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden To Direct Amazon Comic Book Series ‘Criminal’

Directing team Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (“Captain Marvel”) have been tapped to bring their quirky expertise to Amazon’s new streaming series “Criminal” by helming the first four episodes. This exciting collaboration, first reported by Deadline, promises to deliver a thrilling adaptation of the acclaimed comic book series. The show tells “the interweaving saga of several generations of families tied together by the crimes and murders of the past.” 

“Criminal” comes from Marvel Comics and Image Comics; however, the series was not part of the greater Marvel universe (the publisher handles all sorts of comic stories set in and outside their central universe). Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips co-created the multi-Eisner Award-winning graphic novel series. 

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Following a detour into the world of, ironically, Marvel, Fleck and Boden are coming off the return to their indie roots with the film, “Freaky Tales” featuring Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn, and Jay Ellis, which debuted earlier this year at Sundance (read our review).

Brubaker has spent much of his comic book career at Marvel, with his comics influencing the film “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” and is the co-showrunner on “Criminal” alongside crime fiction author Jordan Harper. The comic book writer isn’t new to crime-based television as he co-created “Too Old To Die Young” with Nicolas Winding Refn. 

Prime Video gave “Criminal” a series order back in January and is in pre-production, with filming set for Portland, Oregon. The show’s producing team comprises Brubaker, Harper, Phillips, Sarah Carbiener, Phillip Barnett, Legendary Television, and Amazon MGM Studios.

Of course, the directing duo is likely best known for their billion-dollar MCU movie “Captain Marvel,” starring Brie Larson as the cosmic-powered heroine and former Air Force pilot. Other acclaimed films the pair have worked on include “Mississippi Grind,” “Half Nelson,” the aforementioned “Freaky Tales,” and episodes of Apple TV+’s WWII show “Masters of The Air.” 

We’re still waiting on who will ultimately star in the show. Still, we’ll keep our fingers crossed that Ben Mendelsohn nabs a part, given the Australian actor’s previous working relationship with the directors on “Mississippi Grind, “Freaky Tales,” and their Marvel flick.