Aldis Hodgehas hung up his Hawkman wings, but he’s still fighting crime in the official trailer forPrime Video’supcoming series,Cross.And his character, Alex Cross, is facing a seemingly unstoppable opponent as the 38-year-old detective goes up against a creepy masked killer in the brand-new footage. Check out the video (below), which gives fans a glimpse into the crime thriller, which adapts authorJames Patterson’sbeloved literary character for the small screen.
Ben Watkins teams up with Hodge in theCrosscreative collaboration. Watkins acts as the Prime Video series’ showrunner and executive producer, and his most prolific work as an EP comes from his contributions to the television showsBurn Notice, Hand of GodandTruth Be Told. And Watkins knows Hodge has something special to offer the fans with his interpretation of Alex Cross. Watkins said of Hodge during an interview withEntertainment Weekly:
I had this sense that he’d be able to bring some swagger, some sex appeal, some edge, but also, I needed someone who was voracious intellectually.
Cross follows the titular Alex Cross, a detective and forensic psychologist particularly adept at understanding and analyzing the minds of killers and their victims. Cross uses this prowess to bring murderers to justice.
Hodge added to the conversation by discussing his take on the character:
I saw a lot of things personally that I would like to embody but also as an audience member. Things that I wanted to watch. I saw a character that was cool, calm, collected, imposing.
Expect the Unexpected from Prime Video’s Cross
Prime Video doesn’t have the same “Cross” to bearas say some of the earlier adaptations of author James Patterson’s literary works did. For instance, Oscar winner (Million Dollar Baby) Morgan Freeman portrayed the character of Alex Cross in bothKiss the Girls(1997) andAlong Came a Spider(2001), both of which were adapted from the 1995 and 1993 novels of the same names, respectively. However, the Aldis Hodge-led project doesn’t approach Patterson’s beloved character and stories quite the same way. Showrunner Ben Watkins also told EW:
“When I started down the rabbit hole of reading the books and I rewatched the films, I was making a list of the things that I felt like the films hadn’t done justice to. If you’ve only watched the movies, you wouldn’t know [about the character John Sampson]. Then you get into the books and you’re like, ‘This relationship is so layered and so rewarding and so nuanced and comforting.’ They’re inseparable, and you know you can count on that. I knew that that was one of the things we were going to have to channel for the show.”
Hodge himself touches on the importance of his on-screen relationship with fellow actor Isaiah Mustafa, who portrays the aforementioned jumbo chili dog-eating partner of Alex Cross, Mr. John Sampson. Hodge said of Sampson and some of the other integral characters in an interview withTV Insider:
“Like in the books, John Sampson (Isaiah Mustafa) is his best friend and brother-in-arms. He’s the guy who can course-correct Cross when he veers off the rails, going a little too deep into his mania. His grandmother known as Nana Mama (Juanita Jennings) raised him because his parents died young.
Now she’s helping raise his children Damon (Caleb Elijah) and Jannie (Melody Hurd). Cross actually has a whole community in D.C. That’s something that I really enjoy. He patrols the neighborhood where he grew up and we get to show the kind of people who live there.”
James Patterson Praises New Alex Cross Series, Calls It ‘Edgier’ Than Most
The new Alex Cross series for Prime Video gets the nod of approval from author James Patterson, whose novels the show is based on.
All eight episodes ofCrosswill be available to stream and/or binge-watch onPrime Videobeginning onThursday, November 14.And for those fans of the character from the books, there’s more Alex Cross to come, becauseSeason 2 ofCrosshas already been orderedahead of Season 1’s highly anticipated premiere.
For anyone who may have missed it, check out the teaser from back in May below:
