Hanna (TV series)
Hanna is an American action drama web television series, based on the 2011 film of the same name, on Prime Video. The series was created and written by David Farr, directed by Sarah Adina Smith, and stars Esme Creed-Miles, Joel Kinnaman, and Mireille Enos. The first episode was made available on Amazon 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 season.
Premise
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. Erik once recruited pregnant women into a CIA program, code name UTRAX, where the children's DNA was enhanced with 3% wolf in order to create super-soldiers. 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.Of the TV adaptation, writer David Farr says: “I’ve always felt the film was weirdly male, but knew this TV series would have a more female-centric quality.”
Cast and characters
Main
- Esme Creed-Miles as Hanna, a girl who was part of the original UTRAX program as an infant, but who was rescued by Erik Heller who raised and trained Hanna on his own
- Mireille Enos as Marissa Wiegler, the CIA operative in charge of the original UTRAX program who has an obsessive interest in Hanna, though she allies herself with Hanna in the second season
- Joel Kinnaman as Erik Heller, a former CIA operative who worked for UTRAX, but who fell in love with Hanna's mother and who rescued Hanna after her mother's death; he subsequently hid Hanna away, raising her as his own, and training her to be an operative
- Noah Taylor as Dr. Roland Kunek, a scientist who has designed the regimen for the young agents in the program that is the successor to UTRAX
- Dermot Mulroney as John Carmichael, the CIA operative in charge of the program that is the successor to UTRAX
Recurring
CIA
- Khalid Abdalla as Jerome Sawyer
- Justin Salinger as Carl Meisner
- Andy Nyman as Jacobs
- Anthony Welsh as Leo Garner, a supervisor at The Meadows who is responsible for indoctrinating the trainees
- Cherrelle Skeete as Terri Miller, a new transfer who is in charge of using social media interaction to cultivate trainees at The Meadows
- Katie Clarkson Hill as Joanne McCoy, a CIA officer who works under Carmichael at The Meadows
England
- Rhianne Barreto as Sophie, Hanna's new friend whose family Hanna meets in Morocco
Germany
- Stefan Rudolf as Rudi
- Katharina Heyer as Elsa
- Peter Ferdinando as Lucas
- Benno Fürmann as Dieter
Poland
- Joanna Kulig as Johanna Petrescu, Hanna's mother
UTRAX
- Yasmin Monet Prince as Girl 249 / Clara Mahan, 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, a trainee at the Meadows facility whom Sandy befriends
- Severine Howell-Meri as Helen Young, a trainee at The Meadows who is a friend of Sandy and Jules
- Mia Jenkins as Danielle Marks, a trainee at the Meadows facility
Guest
CIA and UTRAX
- Michelle Duncan as False Marissa
- Varada Sethu as CIA Analyst McArthur
- Andrea Deck as Carlsson
- Jasmine Breinburg as Girl 217
- Osi Okerafor as UTRAX Security Officer Jones
- Emma D'Arcy as Sonia Richter, a new addition to Marissa's Paris office, but she is actually working for Carmichael
England
- Lyndsey Marshal as Rachel, Sophie's mother
- Phaldut Sharma as Tom, Sophie's father
- Kemaal Deen-Ellis as Jay, Sophie's brother
Germany
- Ursula Werner as Sara Heller, Erik Heller's mother
- Narges Rashidi as Sima, Dieter's wife
- Leonard Rosik as Armin, Dieter and Nima's son
France
- Félicien Juttner as Olivier Moreau, Marissa's boyfriend
- Giles Norris-Tari as Benoit Moreau, Olivier's son
Romania
- Aleksandar Mikic as Emil Prodna, Hanna's biological father
- Cristina Catalina as Maria Prodna, Emil's wife
- Audrey Marodi as Emil and Maria's daughter
- Roland Csikkel as Emil and Maria's son
Episodes
Season 1 (2019)
Season 2 (2020)
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 season.
Casting
On February 8, 2018, it was announced that Mireille Enos, Joel Kinnaman, and Esme Creed-Miles had been cast in the series' lead roles. In September 2019, it was reported that Dermot Mulroney, Anthony Welsh, 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, Slovakia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Filming was also set to take place in Spain at the port of Almeria and the Estación Intermodal.For the second season, filming took place in the United Kingdom, and in Barcelona and Paris. Filming also took place in the French department Nord, which doubled as the city of Charleroi, Belgium.
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), the first episode was made available on Amazon Video as a time-limited preview for 24 hours.Marketing
On January 4, 2019, a teaser trailer for the series was released. On January 30, 2019, another teaser trailer was released, which was also broadcast as a commercial during Super Bowl LIII.Reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series 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, it has a weighted average score of 57 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com 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."