One Of Guy Ritchie’s Best Shows Is A Stealth Prequel To A 7-Part Crime Thriller Series

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As a big fan of quality TV, I always considered Ray Donovan one of Showtime’s best shows. Liev Schreiber was fantastic in the lead role, and the series really grabbed me with its dark, realistic take on the Hollywood world and the intense drama within the Donovan family. It ran from 2013 to 2020 and built a really dedicated fanbase. Though it was popular, the show mostly kept to itself, aside from that one movie they made in 2022 to wrap things up.

Given the success of other crime dramas from the 2010s—like Bosch and Dexter, which have expanded into larger franchises—it’s surprising that Ray Donovan didn’t do the same. However, a prequel series called The Donovans was actually in the works. It would have explored the Donovan family’s history before they came to America, effectively broadening the Ray Donovan story.

The project took a new direction when Guy Ritchie, a British filmmaker, became involved. Instead of making a direct prequel, Paramount+ reimagined the series, ultimately creating the crime drama MobLand, starring Tom Hardy. Although MobLand is its own story, set in the UK instead of the US, it still clearly connects to its earlier version, The Donovans, and those connections are easy to see.

MobLand Was Originally A Ray Donovan Prequel

The Tom Hardy Crime Thriller Began Life As A Direct Expansion Of The Donovan Family Story

I’m a big fan of the Ray Donovan universe, and I was really excited when I first heard about MobLand. But did you know it actually started as something else? It was originally planned as a prequel called The Donovans. They greenlit it back in 2024 with the idea of showing us the story of Ray’s family years before we met him in Ray Donovan. It would have explained how that whole criminal world he grew up in came to be – basically, the roots of everything we love about the show.

With this approach, development moved forward quickly. Writers crafted scripts, the show’s overall creative vision took shape, and it was designed to feel like a continuation of the story from Ray Donovan. Paramount+ believed there was strong potential in revisiting a successful series, particularly one with a loyal audience and well-developed characters.

The series really changed direction when Guy Ritchie signed on as a director and producer. He’s known for his unique style in crime dramas, and he brought that to the show, moving it away from being a direct continuation of Ray Donovan. Instead, it began to develop its own identity and tell more self-contained stories.

The change wasn’t immediate. Turning The Donovans into MobLand happened fairly late in the development process, after the basic story elements were already established. Instead of completely scrapping everything, the show’s characters, themes, and structure were revised. This allowed MobLand to move away from being connected to Ray Donovan without having to start over completely.

I was really intrigued when I heard about the new show – it spun off from Ray Donovan, but Paramount+ decided to let it stand completely on its own. It definitely felt like a Ray Donovan kind of show, with that same gritty energy, but they weren’t tied to the original storylines at all. It was amazing because it gave the creators, especially Guy Ritchie, so much freedom to build something new, especially since it was set in the UK, without worrying about sticking to what had already happened in the original series.

Ray Donovan’s DNA Still Runs Through MobLand

The Two Shows Share Core Themes And Archetypes Despite Their Differences

I’ve been watching MobLand, and honestly, it still feels a lot like Ray Donovan underneath it all. Both shows are really about the same thing: a ‘fixer’ – someone who solves problems for important, often shady, people. And Harry Da Souza, played by Tom Hardy in MobLand, definitely reminds me of Ray Donovan. You can practically see how the character started as an idea related to Liev Schreiber’s character – they share that same complicated, morally grey vibe.

Both Ray Donovan and MobLand share a lot of common ground. They both feature intense violence, complex family relationships, and explore the inner lives of their characters. Both shows delve into themes of loyalty, the pursuit of power, and the emotional toll of criminal activity. Because of these similarities, fans of Ray Donovan will likely find a familiar and engaging experience in MobLand, even though it tells a different story.

While similar in some ways, MobLand and Ray Donovan have notable differences. MobLand is set in the UK, giving it a British feel compared to Ray Donovan‘s Los Angeles setting. The criminal activity in MobLand focuses more on traditional organized crime families, unlike Ray Donovan, which centers around powerful people in the entertainment industry.

Ultimately, MobLand succeeds as both a compelling crime story on its own and as an interesting alternate take for fans of Ray Donovan. Though it’s no longer officially connected to the show, its roots in Ray Donovan are still very noticeable.

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2026-04-15 02:49