Citadel: Russo Brothers Amazon Series Cast, Release Date, and News

Joe and Anthony Russo, the fraternal directing duo behind Marvel’s massive Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame aren’t afraid of spectacle. The brothers are coming off directing two of the biggest movies of all time: biggest cast, biggest budget, and biggest physical depiction of Josh Brolin. Now they’re going to go big once again. The Russos have cut a deal with Amazon to develop an “international event series” called Citadel, which is billed as an action-packed spy series. The series was announced today as part of Amazon’s presence at the Television Critics Association summer tour. 

Per Amazon Studios, Citadel “will function as a fire-starter to ignite the creation of multiple original local language and local production series. All of the local series are meant to enhance the entire entertainment experience and will be available for the viewer to deep dive into an imagined layered world.”

Let’s unpack some of that: the Russos will be creating a large TV series for Amazon Prime that will lead to other, smaller local-language international series perhaps set in the same universe or dealing with similar themes. Other international versions of the franchise are set to go in production in Mexico, Italy, and India at this time. 

In a way, it sounds like Amazon Prime is trying to accomplish something similar to Netflix’s Sense8 in concept but larger in scope. Sense8 spent a lot of Netflix’s money in an attempt to be a truly global show, with an international cast and multiple international filming locations. Sense8 could only get so much done in 24 episodes spread over two seasons though. Creating an entire international fictional television franchise from the ground up sounds difficult certainly, but more sustainable. 

Plus, Jeff Bezos wants his Game of Thrones, damn it. And if dropping a cool billion dollars on a Lord of the Rings series doesn’t succeed, maybe these Marvel bros from Cleveland, Ohio will. 

“The Russo Brothers have impacted the pop culture barometer of creative excellence with their vision for both Avengers: Infinity War and Captain America: Civil War,” Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said during the original announcement. “They brought a level of scale and execution to those films that has raised the bar for audiences everywhere and we can’t wait for them to do the same for us on this project for our Amazon Prime Customer. We are thrilled to be working with Joe and Anthony Russo and their AGBO Studios as they build this incredible, multifaceted, international franchise.”

Here’s everything else we know about the new franchise:

Citadel Cast

Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Quantico) and Richard Madden (Bodyguard) will star in the American “mothership” series. More casting announcements are expected soon.

Citadel Release Date

No release date has been set for Citadel, but we’ll keep you updated as we hear more.