Eternals Star’s High-Octane Spy Series Rockets to the Top of Streaming

If you had Citadel on your streaming bingo card for 2026, congratulations—you’re apparently not alone. The Russo Brothers’ high-budget spy series (yeah, those Russos—the Avengers guys) just took a big leap up Amazon Prime Video’s rankings, mostly thanks to its brand-new second season dropping this week. For a show that got mostly shrugged at during its first run, this is definitely a comeback story.

Where Citadel Sits Now on Prime Video

According to the latest FlixPatrol numbers for May 7, Citadel is currently holding the #2 spot among Prime Video shows in the US. Not a bad showing, especially when you remember Season 1 was met with lukewarm reviews at best (to put it mildly). Citadel Season 2 just launched on Wednesday, May 6, so this is new territory for the series—and for anyone betting against it.

Just for context, here’s how things look in Prime’s upper ranks right now (single list, as promised):

• #1: The Boys (final season, obviously)
• #2: Citadel (the subject of our excitement here)
• #3: Invincible
• #5: Nicole Kidman’s Scarpetta
• #6: Young Sherlock
• #8: Fallout

No one can accuse Prime of not trying a little bit of everything, but action and superheroes are still king.

Remind Me—What Is Citadel?

Citadel’s roots are old-school spy drama, but with a major streaming budget and a cast that leans international. The show’s creators—Josh Appelbaum, Bryan Oh, and David Weil—got the backing of Joe and Anthony Russo (right, the directors behind some of Marvel’s biggest movies), so the scale is about what you’d expect.

Front and center: Richard Madden (yes, the guy who played Ikaris in Eternals and Robb Stark in Game of Thrones) stars as Mason. Priyanka Chopra Jonas does the action partner thing as Nadia, while Stanley Tucci steals scenes as Bernard, the handler who’s never off the clock.

Season 1’s big pitch was amnesia meets espionage—Citadel, a not-affiliated-with-any-country spy agency, gets wrecked by a rival outfit called Manticore, and our leads (Mason and Nadia) suddenly can't remember who they are. Bernard, their former boss, drags them back into the spy world years later—because of course he does.

Now in Season 2, the band’s back together (well, mostly), with a new threat on the horizon and not a lot of trust between team members. It’s got seven episodes, which is one more than last season. Not exactly binge-all-week, but enough to fill your evenings if you miss international car chases and dramatic memory loss.

Money, Reviews & Some Perspective

Let’s be honest: When Season 1 hit, critics weren’t impressed. Citadel is sitting at 51% on Rotten Tomatoes (the critic score), and a 62% audience score. So, divisive—but not outright hated.

What really raised eyebrows last year was the price tag: Citadel’s first season came in at a massive $300 million. For the record, that makes it one of the most expensive TV shows ever, just trailing behind Prime’s own The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Apparently, streaming is where your wildest budget dreams go to live (and sometimes die).

As for the show’s new run at the top, here’s what we’re looking at—people are actually tuning in. Maybe it’s the summer lull, maybe the spy itch needs scratching, but you can’t argue with the numbers. I’m just as surprised as anyone.

'If the goal was to get audiences back after a mixed first season, well: mission at least halfway accomplished.'

So, if you gave up on Citadel after the early reviews, now might be the time to check back in to see how much $300 million of action looks like… on your couch.