Amazon Prime’s newest detective series, Cross, premieres on November 14th and seems poised to become the next hit adaptation of a popular book series featuring a strong male lead who one way or another, stops the bad guys. Following in the footsteps of Jack Ryan and Reacher, Cross feels like a sure bet to attract viewers – it has already been renewed for a second season ahead of its debut.
During a press carpet at New York Comic Con, Awards Focus spoke with writer/showrunner Ben Watkins, Aldis Hodge—who takes on the titular role—and co-stars Ryan Eggold, Isaiah Mustafa, and Samantha Walkes. The cast later thrilled fans during a panel discussion, offering insights into their characters and teasing what’s ahead for the series.
The Alex Cross novels by James Patterson have captivated readers for decades, but previous attempts to bring the character to the big screen—Kiss the Girls (1997) and Along Came a Spider (2001) with Morgan Freeman, and Tyler Perry’s Alex Cross (2012)—failed to establish a cinematic franchise. This latest iteration, developed by Ben Watkins, takes a fresh approach. With a younger Cross, portrayed by the magnetic Hodge, the series delivers a contemporary take on Washington, D.C., boldly tackling race-driven sociopolitical issues. Hodge breathes new life into Patterson’s beloved detective, skillfully blending intense physicality with layered emotional depth as Cross grapples with personal loss, fatherhood, and the hunt for disturbed serial killers..
According to creator Ben Watkins, television offers a unique opportunity to fully explore the depth and complexity of Alex Cross’s world. “Television might actually be the best way to do this adaptation because we don’t have to be limited by time or only focused on the mystery,” Watkins explained. “You get to know the characters, get familiar with the world, and see a personal journey. I come for the mystery, but I stay for the characters.”
This freedom is partly owed to the collaboration with James Patterson, who gave Watkins an unusual level of creative license to reinvent the world of Alex Cross. Watkins shared, “One of the early conversations I had with James Patterson was about what he was willing to share. He says to me, ‘Anything you need and anything you want, you just let me know, and I will make it happen.’”
That latitude allowed Watkins to ground Alex Cross in rich storytelling that delves into his emotional complexities as a grieving father while also spotlighting his intellectual brilliance and moral drive. Hodge, explained what drew him to the character. “[Cross] is a man, a Black man, unapologetically himself. He’s intellectual, he’s brilliant, and doesn’t have to explain it. That’s the thing that I love. Oftentimes, it’s like, oh, here’s why he’s so smart. Here’s why he’s this. It’s like, no, this is just who we are and what we do.”
Hodge elaborated on the weight of portraying a character like Cross, particularly one so rarely depicted with this level of nuance in media. “The fact that he gets to mix being an academic, being honest, being innately just Blackity, Black, Black and not having to explain that… the weight you can’t imagine, the weight that’s lifted off of being able to just sit in that normalcy and say, we get to live this and breathe this every day, because that’s what real life is. That’s what I see every day, and I’m happy we finally get to reflect it in a project that I get to live in for however many years we are granted.”
This depth of character and storytelling resonated with the rest of the cast as well. Ryan Eggold (New Amsterdam), who plays a power-hungry antagonist, was particularly struck by the show’s ability to marry contemporary themes with the endless amount of source material. “Ben Watkins, who wrote this amazing show, it’s so steeped in a very complex, nuanced reality and very reflective of a lot of things that are going on today. And then you pair that with this compelling world James Patterson created, and it’s just a really fresh take.” Eggold went on to describe the thrill of stepping into such a dark, manipulative character. “There’s this ruthlessness, a cold ambition. He’ll lie, manipulate, stop at nothing to get the power he seeks, which is such a great counterbalance to the world that Aldis and Isaiah are creating with the family life, the love, the pursuit of justice and truth.”
Isaiah Mustafa (Shadowhunters), who plays Cross’s best friend and moral compass, John Sampson, praised Watkins’ writing for adding new layers to the character. “The character that I play, John Sampson – Ben really fleshed out this character that I’d seen before portrayed in the films and gave him a lot more agency, making him this kind of moral through line for Cross. He’s not afraid to get in his face about things when he’s not being who he’s supposed to be. When I saw that, I was like, man, this guy has depth. He’s not just a side character.” Mustafa also reflected on the relationship between Sampson and Cross. “Their camaraderie is not something that I’m used to seeing on television. You see two Black men who truly love each other as brothers. They’re not trying to tear each other down but are really being responsible with each other. I think audiences are going to find that incredibly endearing.”
Samantha Walkes, who portrays Elle, shared her enthusiasm for her character’s journey throughout the series. “The arc, you see, is really her inviting the children, inviting even Alex into a consensual relationship. It’s not a force. It’s not a push. It’s how she navigates just wanting to be there and asking for a seat at the table to love these beautiful humans.” Walkes also detailed how she prepared to play a character who could become a love interest to Cross, despite his grieving and hunting of serial killers. “My personal process as an artist and a storyteller is always to build as much history as I possibly can. So I have memories for Elle from when they first met in grade school. I have memories from Elle, from her childhood, from her mother to her, her mother having dementia, her father dying young. I have so much that I’ve created just so that when I get to a place and we’re having a conversation all of a sudden on screen, something lights up in me and I remember it all tracks back, and there’s this richness that can unfold organically and unexpectedly. And I think that’s what makes magic happen on screen.”
Watkins’ collaborative approach extended beyond his creative relationship with Patterson to building a genuine sense of chemistry among the cast. Isaiah Mustafa credited this camaraderie to heartfelt pre-production discussions about real life, which made their on-screen dynamic effortless. Walkes echoed this sentiment, describing the authentic connections that form when actors bring vulnerability to their performances.
Season One of Cross drops November 14th on Amazon Prime. Audiences can expect Cross to deliver a mix of suspenseful storytelling and emotionally resonant character arcs, and of course, just some good old-fashioned serial killer fun. The show’s mysteries are paired with moments of humor and levity that reflect real life. Isaiah Mustafa teased, “Even though we’re chasing a serial killer and it’s a thriller, you’re going to see aspects of it that are funny just because of the situation or the way somebody says something. Even in a tense situation, we find some sort of levity in it.”