I consider Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips to be at the apex of not only comic book storytelling, but that of any medium, and I’m as eager as anyone breathing to see their epic crime noir universe come to life with Prime Video’s Criminal adaptation, The series is set to star Charlie Hunnam, who’s currently winning over audiences as one of this country’s most infamous criminals in Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story, as well as Tulsa King mainstay Garret Hedlund, who shared his excitement for the show with CinemaBlend, as seen in the video above.
Debuting at some point after all the 2025 TV premieres have concluded, Criminal will open up the multi-generational and interconnected saga that has now spanned 11 trade collections and graphic novels, with 2025’s The Knives being the latest. Hedlund was announced as being part of the cast back in Sept. 2024, but he’s part of a subset whose character details haven’t been revealed yet.
When I talked to the actor about Tulsa King Season 3 (currently streaming via Paramount+ subscription), I asked if portraying Mitch’s small-time criminal story for three seasons helped inform his Criminal role. He told me:
Oh, wow. Oh, nice pull hit. I mean, fuck, I’m sure. No, they’re kind of vastly, sort of different. This one, Tulsa King’s a little more relaxed for me. It was why it was kind of a blessing stepping on to this one, because I feel like prior, you know, I’d done some roles where they were just darker for different reasons, and this one kind of demands that you be a little more at ease and relaxed, and bring the best of your sense of humor to the table, and timing.
Unsurprisingly, Hedlund didn’t blindly pour all kinds of plot secrets out for me to greedily lap up, but it was perhaps surprising to hear that Mitch seems to be on a different wavelength from his undisclosed character. Although I guess I understand his Tulsa King performance being easier to slip into and out of, since Mitch is a bartender/musician who just happens to also be a shit-kicker employed by a fairly easy-going mob boss.
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To that end, though, Criminal is not the kind of world where characters’ humor is showcased and championed. There’s often a darkly comedic undercurrent at play, don’t get me wrong, which is arguably comparable to some of Tulsa King’s more sordid moments.
Garrett Hedlund addressed the upcoming comic adaptation more directly as he continued, saying:
You know, Criminal, I look forward to. Ed Brubaker is a beautiful man. Those particular episodes reteam me up with Dee Rees, who I worked with in Mudbound. So I’m excited for that one. Obviously, my dear pal, Charlie Hunnam.
One of the most exciting things about Criminal is the fact that its co-creator headed up the production as showrunner, with Sean Phillips also on board as executive producer, so the final product should essentially be the idealized version. So it’s music to fans’ ears to hear that Ed Brubaker sounds like a great boss for a show like this.
The biggest draw for those unfamiliar with the comic, however, will be the stacked cast, including the former co-stars Hedlund and Hunnam, who portrayed badass brothers in Netflix’s 2019 action thriller Triple Frontier.
In Criminal, Hunnam plays Leo Patterson, a longtime legacy thief who opts to mastermind heists and other jobs in ways that require zero guns and violence, which stands opposite the methods used by his father Tommy. Not that Leo is always successful at achieving such goals, but it’s the thought that counts. I don’t recall Leo having any brothers, so that likely rules that role out for Hedlund, but I’m hoping they actually do get to share the screen together in the new show.
It sounds like fans can expect him to pop in during the latter half of the first season, as Eps. 5-8 were all directed by Hedlund’s Mudbound helmer Dee Rees. But we can also look forward to other A+ cast members include Richard Jenkins, Kadeem Hardison, Luke Evans, Emilia Clarke, Adria Arjona, Logan Browning, Pat Healy, John Hawkes, Michael Mando, Chris Diamantopoulos, Marvin Jones III and more.
For now, Criminal doesn’t yet have a release date, but fans can definitely enjoy lots of Garrett Hedlund’s Mitch Keller in the meantime, with new episodes of Tulsa King hitting Paramount+ every Sunday.