One year after Prime Video and the Russo brothers collaborated to bring the ambitiousCitadelfranchise to life, the first spinoff is ready to premiere.Citadel: Diana. While 2023’sCitadelstarred two actors well-known in the U.S. (Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden),Citadel: Dianabranches out to Italy and features well-regarded European performers at the center of its story. It will soon be followed by another spinoff set in India,Citadel: Honey Bunny, which focuses on the past.
Citadel: Diana’s title character is played by Matilda De Angelis, and the recent trailer introduces her as a Citadel recruit tasked with bringing down a crime family. In order to achieve her goal, which carries personal motivations with it, she must ally herself with the heir to Manticore (the rival organizationintroduced inCitadelseason 1). The show begins in 2030, and thus will surely unlock clues as to the fate of Citadel after its fall in season 1.
Citadel: Diana Showrunner Confirms New Spinoffs Act As Standalone Series In Expanding Universe
EXCLUSIVE: Showrunner Gina Gardini explains how Citadel: Diana fits into the larger Citadel franchise universe being built at Amazon Prime.
Screen Rantinterviewed two executive producers of the world ofCitadel, David Weil and Angela Russo-Otstot, about what fans could expect about the upcoming spinoffs — especiallythe futuristicCitadel: Diana. The duo also hinted at their plans for the universe’s potential endgame, as well as whether they’d be willing to explore the roots (or the rebuilding) of the infamous organization.
Citadel: Diana & Citadel: Honey Bunny Are A Chance To Admire Filmmakers All Over The World
“It’s no coincidence that these exquisite filmmakers come from countries that have such a rich history in cinema.”
Screen Rant: I’m immensely fascinated with how you’re choosing to expand theCitadeluniverse. We’re going forward in time withDianain Italy, and we’re going back in time withHoney Bunnyin India. I’m curious, how did you choose those locations and time periods as the next chapters?
Angela Russo-Otstot: We started in terms of thinking about collaborators. We wanted this to be a global venture, and we had great support from Prime Video in embracing it as a truly global venture. We knew we were going to have to find partners who were as collaborative and open as we were because it was going to really require a heightened level of communication, of openness, and of organization.
It started with identifying Krishna DK, Raj Nidimoru, and Sita R. Menon [for Honey Bunny] and Gina Gardini and [ITV Studios-owned] Cattleya [for Diana], who were filmmakers that we admired. We had loved their work, and we felt like they were going to be incredible partners and collaborators to us. That’s what sort of led us organically to Italy and India, and I think it’s no coincidence that these exquisite filmmakers come from countries that have such a rich history in cinema. That’s the first thing.
When it comes to the timelines, it’s really twofold. We look at the great story that David laid out in season 1, and you think about these characters and the interesting and complex challenges that they’re faced with. It felt that there was a lot of rich and fertile territory to mine with Nadia as a child, knowing that her mother also grew up as a spy. And it felt like there was a lot of rich territory to mine on the Manticore side of things, because that had just been introduced but not fully dug into.
But then also we wanted to think about ways to not only surprise ourselves, but surprise audiences. The timelines that we’re sitting within really gave the filmmakers an opportunity to lean into stylistic choices that they were excited by. We have a very sort of futuristic sci-fi bent in Diana, and then we have this grounded analog feel within Honey Bunny. I think that it gives audiences a good variety or diversity of experiences all around.
Citadel Has Plenty Of Room For More Timelines & Season 2 Could Explore Rebuilding The Organization
“There are definitely resolutions that we have in mind for certain character arcs…”
Screen Rant: Given that these are different time periods, can these new stories continue on their own, or are they truly standalone stories or chapters?
David Weil: They can continue. I think that’s the beauty of this entire grand experiment that we’re doing with Citadel. We can go backward and forward in time; we can learn new things about a character in the past that informs the future, or something in the future that we then may see come to fruition in the past. We’re open to all of it.
Screen Rant: As the timeline potentially expands, and even at the beginning of this process, how far are you planning ahead and what locations may be center points for the next stories we see?
David Weil: We’re dreaming always, and what excites us is the incredible characters and the actors that come to play those characters. What Gina’s doing with Diana and Cattaleya, and what DK, Raj, and Sita are doing with Honey Bunny. If we fall in love with a character from their show, it inspires us, “Oh, can we take them here?”
We’re always thinking about those things, but at the moment, we’re just very excited to put these two shows out into the world and to be working on season 2 of Citadel US.
Screen Rant: I have to ask, because it captures my imagination so much when they allude to the beginnings of the Citadel organization, could we ever see that? Or is that just too far in the past?
Angela Russo-Otstot: Oh, it’d be so fun to see that. And obviously, we’re willing to embrace different timelines.
Screen Rant: It’s also fascinating to me that the entry point to Citadel is the destruction of this organization. When you started building this universe, did you have an end game in mind for the spy-verse?
David Weil: Listen, there are definitely resolutions that we have in mind for certain character arcs and ideas, but we also want to be very open. What’s so wonderful about this process is that it’s such an open collaboration, so we want to leave room for that stroke of inspiration or something that DK and Raj come up with that can then inform something for the grand plan of this entire universe.
We definitely have a lot of things in mind, but we always want to be very flexible with what those could be.
Screen Rant: You’re on the creative side of this, but if you can step out of that as an observer and fan of the show, do you think that organization needs to be rebuilt to counter Manticore? Or is it what it is, and this is focused on the characters?
The Citadel Universe Counts Family As Its Beating Heart
“It’s really this emotional and character-driven story about folks who have to live as liars.”
David Weil: You laid it out so beautifully in those three ingredients. Yes, it’s perfect.
Angela Russo-Otstot: That’s really wonderful.
David Weil: The heartbeat is family. I think it’s really this emotional and character-driven story about folks who have to live as liars. Spies have to live in the lie, and so if you do, can you ever have a life of truth? Can you have a true love? How are you a parent in that sort of scenario? Those are the conflicts that we were really excited to explore that, in this long-form storytelling within the spy genre, we were able to do.
Screen Rant: Speaking of children and family, are there any characters I can trust right now?
David Weil: The children, you’re able to usually trust. Yeah, they’re the most honest.
Angela Russo-Otstot: It just depends on where they grow up, too. Because we do see some children, and their future selves in these stories may not be trustworthy.
Screen Rant: In the coming weeks, we have the beginnings ofCitadel: Dianaand thenHoney Bunny. It’s a very exciting time. What are you most excited for fans to see when these things launch?
David Weil: Oh my God. Everything.
Angela Russo-Otstot: The great work of Gina and Cattaleya, and of DK, Raj, and Sita. Everything about them that we’ve always admired and connected to, and we know so many others have as well. We’re hoping even more people get to come to witness what it is that they’re capable of as artists. I think that they’re all truly incredible.
We have so much respect for what it is that they do. We’ve learned so much from each of them, and so this week’s just been a thrill for us because it’s really us saying, “Please watch how awesome each of these people are at what they do and the teams that they work with.” The level of execution across each of these is remarkable.
More About Citadel: Diana Season 1
Milan, 2030: Eight years ago, the independent global spy agency Citadel was destroyed by the powerful enemy syndicate, Manticore. Since then, Diana Cavalieri (Matilda De Angelis), an undercover Citadel agent, is alone, trapped behind enemy lines as a mole in Manticore. When she finally sees a way out and the chance to disappear forever, the only way to do so is trusting the most unexpected ally, Edo Zani (Lorenzo Cervasio), the heir of Manticore Italy and son of the head of the Italian organization, Ettore Zani (Maurizio Lombardi), who’s vying for leadership against the other European families.
Citadel: Diana
Cast
The sequel series to Prime Video’s 2022 spy thriller, Citadel: Diana follows a new cast of characters in the Citadel universe. Centered around the titular Diana, Matilda De Angelis stars as the new protagonist in the Italian branch of the organization.
