Amazon Prime Video’s Citadel is shaping up to be a unique spy thriller for many reasons. The show, which has Russo Brothers (Anthony and Joe) as executive producers, is a spy story interwoven throughout the world, and one, which will have regional spin-offs written, produced and directed by local talent. These are stories that have already been written by creators Josh Appelbaum and Bryan Oh in such a way that they seamlessly blend with the larger narrative.
“This is a really unique television event and I think that’s what excites Anthony and me the most about it. The concept was an idea that Jen Salke presented to us a few years ago. We found it to be an amazing way to create a really diverse global community of storytellers to tell a giant mosaic of a narrative together,” shares Joe Russo.
Anthony Russo, shares he has been working on the idea with Joe for many years. “As storytellers, we really love the engagement of the global film community. We went to work trying to find the right story that could fulfil that ambition and we have had amazing collaborators who have helped us find that.”
The trailer, which came out last week, shows us a glimpse of the hard work that has gone into cracking the action sequences. Did lead stars Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden find these stunts challenging? “Well, I have a scar on my forehead, near my eyebrow, thanks to Citadel,” shares Priyanka, with a loud laugh, “I know. I don’t even cover it anymore. The stunts were amazing. My character is ruthless in a lot of ways. She comes from a place of trusting her body and instinct. Every time I read new pages of the script, I found that the stunts got bigger. But we managed to execute it.”
Richard calls Citadel a ‘dance of massive action sequences with intimate drama’. “The series has action pieces, but all of them are infused with heart, drama and storytelling,” he says, adding that the story kept them on their toes throughout the shoot. “We would be in the middle of a fight sequence and then, go into a piece of drama. We would pad down the sweat a little bit so that we looked good in a close-up, and then, we would get back into a fight sequence again.”
The series was shot in a non-linear manner. “We shot back and forth, and we had to remind each other of the story. And we were like, ‘Wait, we did that in that scene!’ And then, we would bring writer David Weil in to sort it out for us. It was like a big jigsaw puzzle we had to remember. But it was so much fun,” says Priyanka. Anthony shares that the roles of Priyanka and Richard are complex and intricately layered. “They play two different versions of themselves with different sets of memories, and you see this in terms of their behaviour, choices and thoughts. Both roles come with the highest degree of emotional complexity and physical challenges.”
As someone who is a bigger star in Bollywood and in general, India, Priyanka feels that the idea of having a global show which can branch into non-English shows in different countries excited her. “I think the ambition of this show is to create a massive narrative that can travel across countries and speak the people’s language there,” she says. The Quantico actor feels that she is fascinated to see how this huge, cross-country series is going to be received. “Audiences of the Italian Citadel will want to watch the Indian show in Hindi to understand the bigger scheme of things. Citadel has encouraged this cross-pollination of cultures and entertainment forms.”
It isn’t new for Joe and Anthony to be blending multiple stories and linking them cohesively to deliver mammoth-sized entertainment as they successfully cracked the code with blockbuster MCU films like Avengers: Infinity Wars and Avengers: End Game. And with The Gray Man, they successfully tested the waters with a globe-trotting spy thriller. Anthony shares that they have incorporated all these learnings here. “The show capitalises on two exciting trends. Creating narrative universes that have a sprawling expression to them and interconnecting them to get characters that change and morph and move between different iterations. Then, there’s the rise in global filmmaking and the ability of non-English language movies and shows to travel to other cultures, typically the more English language-dominated cultures. So, this show felt like a confluence of both those trends.”
Considering the expanse of the massive narrative, team Citadel makes it clear that the first season is going to leave the viewers puzzled. “I am sure that the audiences are gonna be left with questions after the first season, and they are going to want to see the second season badly,” says Priyanka. The first two episodes of Citadel will premiere on April 28 on Amazon Prime Video, with new episodes made available every Friday, till May 26.
Team Citadel, including actors Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden, and executive producers Anthony and Joe Russo, talk about their upcoming spy thriller series, which marks the beginning of a new cinematic universe