Discovering that an Italian television series is becoming popular on the international market is certainly not news we are used to hearing. This is what is happening with “Citadel: Diana”, the television show exclusively for Prime Video born as a spin-off of the previous “Citadel” , directed by Arnaldo Carinari and created by Alessandro Fabbri together with the contribution of the brothers Joe and Anthony Russo.

In a rollercoaster of intrigue and heart-pounding action, veteran Matilda De Angelis plays secret agent Diana Cavalieri, who, on a desperate escape, will be forced to use all her resources and make alliances she never thought possible. In a futuristic Milan in 2030, Diana has ended up trapped within the organization known as Manticore, after having operated in its ranks as an undercover agent for Citadel.

The only way she has to escape is entrusted to Edo Zani, heir of Manticore Italia, a completely unexpected helper who intends to take on the most powerful European families to maintain his dominion. After the success of the original series in 2023, “Citadel: Diana” is the first side project from the same universe to debut among those scheduled for Prime Video programming , in addition to the release of the second season of “Citadel” expected in 2025 and that of the Indian spin-off “Citadel: Honey Bunny” in November.

In a past interview, Anthony Russo and his sister Angela clearly expressed what it meant to start from the experience of the Marvel Studios titles to arrive at the spy imagery of this interconnected world: «Part of our experience in Marvel storytelling taught us what we did here. Part of the appeal of the MCU storytelling was that the stories traveled internationally to every part of the globe. Massive and intense communication among the audience about those films. It really connected people everywhere and that was something really remarkable that I think really inspired us to say: it's beautiful to see the audience embracing these stories. Why don't we find a way to share the storytelling with the writers themselves? Not just the audience. That was the real innovation».

Shortly after the launch of “Citadel: Diana” last weekend, Prime Video released its ratings results with a surprising outcome: the series has recorded the best result ever for an Italian show on the platform, ranking first among the most viewed series in Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom, and in the Top 5 in over one hundred and fifty countries. On the occasion, television producer James Farrell of Amazon Studios released the following statement: «The success of Citadel: Diana demonstrates that our viewers around the world continue to appreciate local stories, crafted by the best local storytellers and talent. The world of Citadel is a truly unique concept, and our goal was to create a new world of espionage that can work globally. Citadel: Diana’s innovative storytelling has done just that, thanks to an action-packed, character-driven spy story that can appeal to audiences around the world».

The success of the series, its creators confirm, was due to the right balance between character development and adrenaline-filled sequences. In an interview that preceded the release by a few days, director Arnaldo Catinari stated: «From the first readings we did, we asked ourselves how to make these characters truly three-dimensional. How to arouse the greatest possible empathy from the audience. It was one of the guidelines of our story, to focus on Diana's life and the whole world around her».

And on the absolute novelty that the genre represents for Italian productions, he continued by saying: «The action scenes are absolutely analogical, and our Diana took a lot of beatings. Not only her, but also Lorenzo and the others in the cast. And it's not something that happens often, so much so that Matilda De Angelis herself was keen to define it as a unicum within the Italian panorama and in her career, hoping that it can give rise, in some way, to the rebirth of a genre that can easily belong to us if there is the courage and the will to make it happen».

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