''Hanna'' is an American action

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air ae ...

series, based on the 2011 film of the same name, for

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pr ...

. The series was created and written by David Farr and stars Esme Creed-Miles and

Mireille Enos Mireille Enos (; born September 22, 1975) is an American actress. Drawn to acting from a young age, she graduated in performing arts from Brigham Young University, where she was awarded the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship. Having made her acting ...

. The first episode was made available on Amazon Prime Video as a time-limited preview on February 3, 2019. The full eight-episode first season was released on March 29, 2019, and the second season was released on July 3, 2020. In July 2020, the series was renewed for a third and final season. It premiered on November 24, 2021.

Premise

Hanna is a 15-year-old girl living with Erik, the only man she has ever known as her father, in a remote part of a forest in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Erik once recruited pregnant women into a CIA program, code name UTRAX, where the children's DNA was enhanced in order to create

super-soldier The following is a list of fictional characters that appear or are only mentioned in the comic books of Amalgam Comics. They are listed by comic book and a team section is also provided. The amalgamations of characters or the Amalgam versions of ...

s. When Erik falls in love with Johanna, Hanna's mother, he rescues baby Hanna and they flee. The CIA then orders their on-site agent, Marissa, to shut down the project and eliminate all the babies.

Cast and characters

Main

* Esme Creed-Miles as Hanna, a girl who was part of the original UTRAX program as an infant but was rescued by Erik Heller, who raised and trained her on his own *

as Marissa Wiegler, the CIA operative put in charge of the original UTRAX program, who turns from a foe to an ally and mother figure to Hanna * Joel Kinnaman as Erik Heller (season 1; guest, season 3), a former CIA operative who worked for UTRAX but rescued Hanna after falling in love with her mother *

Noah Taylor Noah George Taylor (born 4 September 1969) is a British-born Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as teenage David Helfgott in '' Shine'', Locke in the HBO series '' Game of Thrones'', Darby Sabini in the BBC One series ''Peaky ...

as Dr. Roland Kunek (season 1), a scientist who designed the regimen for the young agents in the second UTRAX program * Dermot Mulroney as John Carmichael (seasons 2–3), the CIA operative at the helm of both UTRAX programs *

Ray Liotta Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's ''Goodfellas'' (1990). He was a Primet ...

as Gordon Evans / The Chairman (season 3), the head of Pioneer and the man pulling the strings behind UTRAX

Recurring

CIA

Khalid Abdalla Khalid Abdalla ( ar, خالد عبدالله; ; born 26 October 1980) is a Scottish actor and activist of Egyptian descent. He came to international prominence after starring in the 2006 Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA-winning film '' United ...

as Jerome Sawyer (season 1) *Justin Salinger as Carl Meisner (seasons 1, 3) *

Andy Nyman Andrew Nyman (born 13 April 1966) is an English actor, director, writer and magician. Early life and career Nyman was born on 13 April 1966 in Leicester, Leicestershire. His first noteworthy performance was in 2000 as Keith Whitehead in '' Dead ...

as Jacobs (season 1) *

Anthony Welsh Anthony Michael Welsh (born 5 July 1983) is an English actor. He made his film debut in ''Red Tails'' (2012). On television, he is known for his role as Lucky Gordon in '' The Trial of Christine Keeler'' (2019–2020). Early life and education ...

as Leo Garner (season 2), a supervisor at The Meadows who is responsible for indoctrinating the trainees *Cherrelle Skeete as Terri Miller (seasons 2–3), a new transfer who is in charge of using social media interaction to cultivate trainees at The Meadows *Katie Clarkson Hill as Joanne McCoy (season 2), a CIA officer who works under Carmichael at The Meadows *

Chloe Pirrie Chloe Pirrie (born 25 August 1987) is a Scottish actress. She has played main roles in the 2014 miniseries '' The Game'', the 2012 film ''Shell'', and the 2015 television film '' An Inspector Calls''. She has also appeared in the 2016 miniseries ...

as Brianna Stapleton (season 3), the new CIA supervisor at The Meadows, and The Chairman's primary lieutenant *Gabriel Akuwudike as Max Kaplan (season 3), a CIA programmer who worked on programming for Pioneer in the early days whom Marissa tracks down

England

Rhianne Barreto Rhianne Gabrielle H Barreto (born 25 March 1998) is an English actress. Her work includes the film '' Share'' (2019), the ITV drama ''Honour'' (2020), and the BBC One series '' The Outlaws'' (2021–). Early life Barreto is one of nine sibling ...

as Sophie (season 1), Hanna's new friend whose family Hanna meets in Morocco

France

* Adam Bessa as Abbas Nazir (season 3), Hanna's first target upon graduating from The Meadows, whom Hanna becomes attracted to

Germany

*Stefan Rudolf as Rudi (season 1) *Katharina Heyer as Elsa (season 1) * Peter Ferdinando as Lucas (season 1) *

Benno Fürmann Benjamin "Benno" Fürmann (; born 17 January 1972) is a German film and television actor. He is known for his lead role in the 2008 film ''The North Face'', where he plays Toni Kurz based on the 1936 Eiger climbing disaster in Switzerland. L ...

as Dieter (season 1)

Poland

Joanna Kulig Joanna Kulig (; born 24 June 1982) is a Polish actress and singer, best known for her role in the 2018 historical drama film ''Cold War'', which earned her the European Film Award for Best Actress. Her other notable credits include the films '' ...

as Johanna Petrescu (season 1; guest, season 3), Hanna's mother

UTRAX

*Yasmin Monet Prince as Girl 249 / Clara Mahan (seasons 1–2), a trainee at the UTRAX facility who is rescued and escapes with Hanna * Áine Rose Daly as Girl 242 / Sandy Phillips, a trainee at the UTRAX facility who is transferred to the Meadows *Gianna Kiehl as Jules Allen (seasons 2–3), a trainee at the Meadows facility whom Sandy befriends

Guest

CIA and UTRAX

* Michelle Duncan as False Marissa (season 1, 3) *

Varada Sethu Varada Sethu (born 1992) is an Indian-born British actress, best known for playing DS Mishal Ali in the BBC apocalyptic TV Series ''Hard Sun''. She has also featured in '' Now You See Me 2'' as the assistant to Michael Caine’s character. Earl ...

as CIA Analyst McArthur (season 1) * Andrea Deck as Carlsson (season 1) * Emma D'Arcy as Sonia Richter (season 2), a new addition to Marissa's Paris office, but she is actually working for Carmichael

Austria

* Wiebke Frost as Lena Behr (season 3), a woman who owns a remote cabin the Austrian countryside, who takes in and hides Abbas Nazir * Léann Hamon as Nadiya (season 3), Abbas Nazir's daughter

England

Lyndsey Marshal Lyndsey Marshal (born 16 June 1978) is an English actress best known for her performance in '' The Hours'', and as the recurring character Cleopatra on HBO's ''Rome'', and as Lady Sarah Hill in BBC period drama '' Garrow's Law''. Biography Mar ...

as Rachel (season 1), Sophie's mother *

Phaldut Sharma Phaldut "Paul" Sharma, also known as Paul Sharma, is a UK-based actor and dancer. He is best known for his roles in Gavin and Stacey as Achmed and Eastenders as AJ Ahmed . Career Television and film Sharma played Vinnay Ramdas in ''Casualty'' a ...

as Tom (season 1), Sophie's father

Germany

* Ursula Werner as Sara Heller (season 1), Erik Heller's mother * Narges Rashidi as Sima (season 1), Dieter's wife

Episodes

Season 1 (2019)

Season 2 (2020)

Season 3 (2021)

Production

Development

On May 23, 2017, it was announced that Amazon had given the production a straight-to-series order. David Farr, who co-wrote the film, was expected to write the series. Executive producers were set to include Marty Adelstein, Becky Clements, Scott Nemes, and JoAnn Alfano. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Tomorrow Studios and NBCUniversal International Studios. On February 8, 2018, it was announced that the series would be directed by Sarah Adina Smith and that Working Title Television, with executive producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, had joined the production. On April 11, 2019, it was reported that Amazon renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on July 3, 2020. On July 13, 2020, Amazon renewed the series for a third and final season, which premiered on November 24, 2021.

Casting

On February 8, 2018, it was announced that

, Joel Kinnaman, and Esme Creed-Miles had been cast in the series' lead roles. In September 2019, it was reported that Dermot Mulroney,

, Severine Howell-Meri, Cherelle Skeete, and Gianna Kiehl were joining the cast of ''Hanna'' for its second season, with Yasmin Monet Prince and Áine Rose Daly also returning from the first season.

Filming

Principal photography for the series was expected to begin in March 2018 in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croat ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to th ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Nor ...

. Filming was also set to take place in Spain at the

port of Almeria The Port of Almería is a busy ferry-port in Almería, Spain. Location The port is located in the center of the city, and serves primarily as a ferry terminal. Crossings to destinations in North Africa take approximately 6 hours (normal ferry t ...

and the Estación Intermodal. For the second season, filming took place in the

, and in Barcelona and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Filming also took place in the French department Nord, which doubled as the city of

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

, Belgium. The second season takes place at the fictional Meadows campus, which was filmed at

Bramshill House Bramshill House, in Bramshill, northeast Hampshire, England, is one of the largest and most important Jacobean prodigy house mansions in England. It was built in the early 17th century by the 11th Baron Zouche of Harringworth but was partly ...

Bramshill Bramshill is a civil parish in the English county of Hampshire. Its name has become synonymous with the Police Staff College, Bramshill located in Bramshill House. Bramshill forms part of the district of Hart. It is bordered by the Rivers Whi ...

, UK. The third season of ''Hanna'' began filming in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a tempera ...

, Czech Republic in February 2021, the first time the series has filmed there. Prague's Karlín district was also used.

Release

The full eight-episode first season of ''Hanna'' was released March 29, 2019. On February 3, 2019, coinciding with the broadcast of a teaser for the series during

Super Bowl LIII Super Bowl LIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2018 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Confe ...

, the first episode was made available on Amazon Video as a time-limited preview for 24 hours.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the first season holds an approval rating of 67% based on 39 reviews, with an average rating of 6.63/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A gritty reimagining of the 2011 film, ''Hanna'' adds new wrinkles to the mythology and texture to the titular assassin — though the series' long-winded journey may try the patience of viewers who want their violent fables concise." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc D ...

, it has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Nick Allen of ''

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times' ...

'' gave the series a negative review, saying that "it's one of the more maddening examples in recent film adapting, and not just because it's so similar to its singular 2011 parent, Joe Wright's ''Hanna''." The second season holds a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 93%, based on 15 reviews indicating universal acclaim. At the

1st Critics' Choice Super Awards The 1st Critics' Choice Super Awards, presented by the Critics Choice Association, honoring the best in genre fiction film and television, were held on January 10, 2021. They were broadcast by the CW, during which Patrick Stewart and Sonequa Mar ...

, the series received three nominations: Best Action Series and Best Actress in an Action Series (Creed-Miles, Enos).

References

External links

* * {{Amazon Video original series 2019 American television series debuts 2021 American television series endings 2010s American drama television series 2020s American drama television series Amazon Prime Video original programming American action television series English-language television shows Live action television shows based on films Television series about teenagers Television series by Amazon Studios Television series by Universal Television Television series by Working Title Television Television shows set in Europe Television shows set in Poland Television shows set in the United Kingdom Television shows set in Spain Television shows set in Paris Television shows set in Belgium Television shows set in Barcelona Television shows filmed in Spain Television shows filmed in the United Kingdom Television shows filmed in France