Amazon’s ‘Citadel’ Renewed For A Second Season

Citadel is Amazon’s ambitious spy drama series that stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden in the titular roles of Nadia Sinh and Mason Kane. The show has now been renewed for a second season, but the situation for it is troublesome for several reasons. These issues have many wondering if a second season is a worthy investment or not. 

Regardless, the series led by Gozie AGBO is all set to make a comeback. AGBO is an independent production house founded by none others than the Russo brothers, who are in charge of the series. The duo gave the world the power-packed Marvel films, but can they reach the same heights as Amazon? Here’s the brief plot summary of Citadel:

The global spy agency Citadel has fallen and the memory of its agents has been erased. Now, the powerful Manticore crime syndicate is filling the power vacuum. Citadel agents must remember their past and find the strength to fight back.

Problems And Solutions

Citadel has been in production since 2018. It took that long because a major part of the team decided to leave the project over creative differences. The budget was also overshot by a lot since reshoots were called after many members of the original team abandoned the project. Reports suggest that the budget for the first season came to around $200 million, which is a staggering amount. 

When the show was first announced, Amazon Studios leader Jennifer Salke called the series a “large-scope, multi-layered international event series.” This has fallen true since the show has already managed to score an Indian adaptation that will go into production very soon. But now, with scary prospects, Salke and her reputation rest at the mercy of Citadel’s success. 

The Russo brothers have not offered any comments regarding the second season. It is also yet to be discovered how many episodes the next season will spawn. The original series saw Josh Appelbaum as the director, who left the show and was replaced by Hunters’ creator David Weil who was hired by the Russo brothers. In order to make the show more grounded and realistic, reshoots were called, which cost the studios around $75 million.

The original budget was already north of $160 million. Clearly, Amazon and AGBO have a lot of faith in their ambitious project. The first season is expected to go live on stream starting on the 28th of April this year. It will have six episodes in total.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ Verdict

The actress went on record while attending the South by Southwest Film Festival and said that working on Citadel was the first time she was paid equally to her male counterparts. The actress settled down to talk with Salke, the Amazon Studios head, and said:

“I’ve been working in the entertainment industry for now 22 years, and I have done almost 70-plus features and two TV shows,” she said.  “But when I did Citadel, it was the first time in my career that I had pay parity. I’m laughing about this, but it’s kind of nuts, I put in the same amount of investment and work, but I get paid much less.

She noted how Amazon Studios stood firmly behind her and the work she put into the character. It only goes to show how invested the streamer is in the show, given the respect, it’s giving its actors and creators.

“… the ease in which Amazon Studios said, ‘That’s what you deserve, you are co-leads, that’s just fair,’ and I was like, ‘You’re right, it’s fair.’”

Citadel’s premiere will determine how well the series is received. With so many stars and brilliant producer-directors working on it, the hype is unreal. Will the financial risks pay off? We’ll only know once the first two episodes drop in April.