The Big Picture

Collider’s Chris McPherson sat down with
Citadel
creators Anthony Russo, Angela Russo-Otstot, and Sam Weil to discuss their two new series.
Citadel is expanding globally with Italian- and Indian-based series, expanding the franchise to more countries.
During this interview, the trio discusses what its like spearheading three series across three countries.

Anthony Russo, Angela Russo-Otstot, and Sam Weil are three of the masterminds behind Citadel, one of the coolest connected universes building out today. With its flagship program a massive success on Prime, Citadel now grows exponentially with Italian-based series: Citadel: Diana and Indian-centered series: Citadel: Honey Bunny– with globetrotting plans in the future to bring the expanding franchise to countries like Spain and Mexico.

The series follows global spy agency Citadel as it falls. The agency’s power is soon usurped by powerful syndicate, Manticore. Now, years after Citadel agents’ memories were wiped clean, they must recollect their past and fight back. Starring Richard Madden as Mason Kane and Priyanka Chopra as Nadia Sinh, the amnesiac spies. Co-starring Lesley Manville and Stanley Tucci.

Russo-Otstot, Russo, and Weil sat down with Collider’s own Chris McPherson to talk about all things Citadel. Together, they discuss what it’s like coordinating three series with three production companies in three countries simultaneously, in order to create a grand international experiment in visual storytelling. You can watch the full conversation in the video above or read the transcript below.

‘Diana’ and ‘Honey Bunny’ Are Truly Global Stories
“Each feel unique, distinct, and culturally resonant, but at the same time, globally resonant.”

COLLIDER: Nice to see you all. We’re here to celebrate three shows. First and foremost, is it a proud moment for all of you to see what you started suddenly expand into an international thing like this?

ANGELA RUSSO-OTSTOT: Yes, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for. It’s been such a thrill to collaborate over the last several years with [production company] Cattleya and Gina [Gardini] in Italy and with D.K., Raj, and Sita [Menon] in India. The opportunity that all of us have embarked on together was to manifest a truly global story through multiple expressions that each feel unique, distinct, and culturally resonant, but at the same time, globally resonant. It is this moment where Diana and Honey Bunny are being brought to audiences that we feel like we’re finally manifesting that mission. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have worked with our partners in Italy and India. We couldn’t be more thrilled for audiences to see the incredible work that they’ve done. This whole week has been such a joy to be able to champion everything that we’ve all worked so hard on.

Obviously, the nature of a spy series is a globe-trotting aspect. What is it you think is distinctive about Italy and India, as well as what Citadel is itself, that makes it an exciting prospect for other people? Do you think it’s a case of showing off the rest of the world, what can be done with different filmmakers, and getting a wider feel of what other people can do that maybe audiences don’t know about? Is that something that you think is appealing to new creators?

RUSSO-OTSTOT: Yeah. I think sometimes, when people discuss global storytelling, it’s easy to be seduced by exotic locales and the scale and scope that a global story can bring. What we have found to be most meaningful in this journey is leaning into the characters, the people that exist within these different settings, the conflicts that arise that can feel common and shared between them, but the different ways in which they manifest because of their unique circumstances.

DAVID WEIL: Absolutely.

Related ‘Citadel’ Turns Back the Clock With the New ‘Honey Bunny’ Spin-Off Poster The spin-off series premieres on Prime Video on November 7.

Do ‘Diana’ and ‘Honey Bunny’ Influence ‘Citadel’ Season 2?
Image via Amazon Prime

Is there anything that you’ve seen from Honey Bunny and from Diana in terms of how the directors and the showrunners have put their own stamp on things that you’ve been inspired by for Season 2 of Citadel ?

WEIL: Oh, absolutely. During the writing process of Season 2, the cuts were coming in for Diana and Honey Bunny as well. Not only their styles and their visual language, but the themes that they explore, the characters that they’ve created. We’re certainly borrowing from that great well of ideas and realizations into Season 2. We’ve been doing this from the beginning. I think that’s what’s so exciting about this grand experiment. As Anthony and Angela talked about, which is, we’ve built this together with our international partners, at the same time, they didn’t build in reaction to us — we really all crafted it together. It’s a constant flow of ideas and creativity.

There’s a throughline of all three shows, which is very strong female characters. Was it a fun part of that to work together and say, “We need to have these characters. They only need to kick ass, basically. How do we do that? What kind of themes do we think all three of our leads will share that we can take forward into showing our audiences?”

RUSSO-OTSTOT: That was very exciting to us. When working in any genre, I think all of us as filmmakers really want to challenge ourselves to go places that audiences haven’t witnessed yet, to dig into characters who feel not only fresh to a cinematic exploration within that genre but also just relevant and timely. We’re very excited to take the spy archetype and really bring forward these three strong, complex women, who I think not only are badass but bring so much dimension to their performances and really allow audiences to connect to them in a manner that maybe we don’t often connect to when we’re following a spy protagonist. There’s really a lot of depth and exploration as these characters struggle with identity, the lies that they are telling, and the complicated relationships that are being compromised by those lies. All three of our hero women are exceptional at that exploration and communicating the depth of challenge that it presents them.

Global Collaboration of ‘Citadel’ Includes the Audience
“There’s so many directions that we dream of taking this.”

With Honey Bunny, we see where Nadia’s story essentially starts. Has there been any thought that maybe the origin of Citadel is a series that you might like to explore? Do you have in your mind how Citadel started and where Manticore came as a result of that? Was it the chicken or the egg? Which one came first and reacted to the other? Is that something you might like to explore further down the line?

RUSSO-OTSTOT: We’ve definitely talked about it in terms of what that story is. Especially when we, as storytellers, are exploring a world as big as this. With new organizations that we’re presenting to the world, we spend a lot of time getting into the details of how all of that came to be, why all of that came to be, because then it empowers us as storytellers to go in any direction, to keep all possibilities open and to dig in in a manner that feels as authentic and nuanced as possible. So yes, it’s all on our minds. There are so many directions that we dream of taking this. We’re really excited to see how audiences embrace this because this isn’t just a collaboration with the other filmmakers for us — it’s a global collaboration, and that includes the audience. I think that will also play a big role in where we might want to continue taking things.

Citadel: Diana and Citadel: Honey Bunny are both streaming on Prime Video.

Citadel: Diana Global spy agency Citadel has fallen, and its agents’ memories were wiped clean. Now the powerful syndicate, Manticore, is rising in the void. Can the Citadel agents recollect their past and summon the strength to fight back?Writers Alessandro Fabbri Streaming Service(s) Prime Video Directors Arnaldo Catinari Showrunner Gina Gardini Character(s) Diana Cavalieri , Edo Zani , Ettore Zani

Watch On Prime