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The most expensive and ambitious espionage franchise in TV history finally has a name, and it sucks

Is this really the best the Russos could come up with?

citadel finale
via Prime Video

You certainly can’t fault Prime Video for its ambition when it comes to crafting an expansive and wildly ambitious series of interconnected TV shows all set in the universe, but it would have helped if Citadel were genuinely any good.

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Sure, the streaming service may have been happy to shout its viewership success from the rooftops, but it would have been an infinitely better outcome had the $300 million, six-episode run of globetrotting escapades actually been the beneficiary of some critical acclaim and genuine adulation.

citadel
via Prime Video

Nonetheless, as well as season 2 of the main drag being given the okay with Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame director Joe Russo helming the entire run himself, there are also two spin-offs in the works with more to come. The Indian version is in front of cameras as we speak, while Italy’s Citadel: Diana dropped its first teaser trailer after the conclusion of today’s season finale.

Alongside the reveal, the name of the franchise was also unveiled for the world to see, with Diana being touted as the next chapter in the “Citadel Spyverse.” Yep, that’s really what they’re calling it, which instantly leads to questions over who gets paid to come up with such banal nomenclature, and how much they made for coming up with the most obvious moniker imaginable.

In fairness, if you’re building a spy universe, then literally calling it the Spyverse does make some semblance of sense, but it’s bottom of the barrel thinking. Nonetheless, the sprawling Citadel saga is only in its infancy, and we’ve got at least three new projects coming down the pipeline to try and get used to it.