Citadel is an American spy action television series created by Josh Appelbaum, Bryan Oh, and David Weil for Amazon Prime Video with the Russo brothers acting as executive producers. It stars Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra as secret agents Mason Kane and Nadia Sinh who, after being attacked by members of a rival agency and having their memories wiped, must reclaim their lost identities and fight back.
With a production budget of US$300 million, the six-episode first season ranks as one of the most expensive television series ever made. The first season premiered on April 28, 2023. In March 2023, it was renewed for a second season, with all seven episodes premiering on May 6, 2026.
Multiple non-English language spin-off shows were announced, with settings in the Italian Alps, India, Spain, and Mexico. The Italian series, Citadel: Diana, premiered on October 10, 2024, while the Indian series, Citadel: Honey Bunny, premiered on November 7, 2024.
Contents
Cast
Main
Richard Madden as
Mason Kane: a top-class Citadel spy agent; Nadia's husband and work partner; Asha's father
Kyle Conroy: Mason's identity after his memory was erased; Abby's husband (seasons 1-2)
Priyanka Chopra as
Nadia Sinh: a top-class Citadel spy agent; Mason's wife and work partner; Asha's mother
Charlotte Vernon: Nadia's identity as a restaurant manager in Valencia after her memory was wiped
Stanley Tucci as Bernard Orlick: a Citadel associate and key member of the spy team
Lesley Manville as Dahlia Archer, a UK ambassador and Manticore agent
Ashleigh Cummings as
Abby Conroy, Kyle's wife; Hendrix's mother
Celeste Graham, a former Citadel spy (season 2; recurring season 1)
Jack Reynor as James Hutch, an off the grid CIA agent who tends to break the rules (season 2)
Lina El Arabi as Celine Rohr (season 2)
Recurring
Roland Møller as Anders and Davik Silje (season 1)
Osy Ikhile as Carter Spence (seasons 1-2)
Caoilinn Springall as Hendrix Conroy, Abby and Kyle's daughter (season 1)
Matt Berry as Frank Sharpe (season 2)
Michael Trucco as Benjamin Cash (season 2)
Rahul Kohli as Charles Bantam (season 2)
Merle Dandridge as Joana Malvern (season 2)
Gabriel Leone as Paolo Braga (season 2)
Rayna Vallandingham as Aparna (season 2)
Guests
Moira Kelly as Joe (season 1)
Timothy Busfield as Simmons (season 1)
Nikki Amuka-Bird as Grace (season 1)
Paul Bazely as Rahi Gambhir, the older version of Nadia's father (the younger version is played by Varun Dhawan in the prequel series Citadel: Honey Bunny) (season 1)
Production
Development
Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke first came up with the idea for the series and approached the Russo brothers and their independent studio AGBO about creating an ambitious, global spy show in mid-2018. The series was originally a partnership between AGBO and the screenwriting collective Midnight Radio, comprising Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec. Appelbaum and Nemec departed the show during production in 2021, due to creative differences with the Russos. The Russos set up a second editing team and cut an alternate version of the season to compete with the main team, and Amazon chose the Russos' version after focus-group testings. This led to the hiring of David Weil as the new showrunner and extensive reshoots in 2022.
As of 2023, Citadel was the second most expensive series of all time with a budget of US$300 million, largely due to the reshoots following Weil's hiring. Prime Video renewed the series for a second season on March 14, 2023.
Casting
Starring alongside Madden and Chopra, Roland Møller will play Laszlo Milla, a lead operative of Citadel's rival intelligence agency, Manticore.
Filming
Filming on the main series began in January 2021 and wrapped the following December. However, reshoots occurred in early and mid-2022 under the supervision of Weil, the Russos, and director Thomas Sigel.
Episodes
Music
Jeff Russo was hired to write the score for season 2 which was recorded in April 2025 at London's Air Lyndhurst Studio.
Alex Belcher composed the first season, while Henry Jackman served as score producer. Sony Classical released the soundtrack.
Release
The series had its world premiere, with the release of the first two episodes, on 14 April 2023 as the surprise screening for the opening night of the Sands Film Festival in St Andrews, Scotland. The six-episode first season premiered on Amazon Prime Video on April 28, 2023, with its first two episodes.
The second season premiered on May 6, 2026, with all seven episodes.
Spin-offs
Citadel includes spin-off shows in different languages set in the Italian Alps, India, Spain, and Mexico. The Italian series, titled Citadel: Diana, is produced by Cattleya, part of ITV Studios, and was released in 2024. At the end of season 1 of Citadel, there was a trailer for Citadel: Diana. The series was aired on October 9, 2024. The Indian series, titled Citadel: Honey Bunny, starring Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, was directed by Raj & DK and revolves around the story of Honey and Bunny, who are the parents of the character Nadia Sinh. It premiered on November 7, 2024.
Reception
Critical response
For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 51% approval rating with an average rating of 5.7/10, based on 79 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Citadel spares no expense but still feels underdeveloped, yielding a fairly fun spy caper that nonetheless creaks under the weight of its own exorbitance." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 51 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
The Economist called it "a big-budget, low-imagination thriller with plenty of explosions and no surprises." Despite the criticism it was picked up for a second season that released in 2026.
The second season has a 71% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on seven reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10.
Screen Rant praised the season's action sequences, writing that the show features "the very best" choreography and fight scenes among Prime Video's action thriller originals, and noted that director Joe Russo's "sharp and high-octane direction" was evident from the opening episode. Indian entertainment publication Bollywood Hungama gave the season a positive review, calling it "a fast-paced thriller" and noting that it "benefits from Priyanka Chopra Jonas' action avatar." M.N. Miller of FandomWire wrote that the second season "finds enough pulpy spy-thriller fun and unexpected charm in Stanley Tucci's scene-stealing turn to make the self-indulgent series an entertaining, but still disposable watch."
Viewership
According to streaming measurement service FlixPatrol, the first season debuted at number two on Prime Video's Top 10 Shows and Top 10 Overall rankings in the United States in its opening week, surpassing other Prime Video titles including Invincible.
The second season briefly reached the top 5 in Prime Video's global streaming charts in its opening days, with competition from the presently airing final season of The Boys.
Accolades
Citadel was nominated for two awards at the 22nd Visual Effects Society Awards.