Robin Hood is an American action-adventure television series created by Jonathan English and John Glenn, and produced by Lionsgate Television. It stars Jack Patten and Lauren McQueen in the lead roles of Robin Hood and Marian respectively, along with Sean Bean as the Sheriff of Nottingham. The series premiered on November 2, 2025, on MGM+. In February 2026, the series was renewed for a second season.
Contents
Premise
A Saxon forester's son, Rob, and the daughter of a Norman earl, Marian, fight for justice and freedom following the Norman Conquest of England in the Middle Ages. Rob becomes the leader of a band of rebel outlaws while Marian infiltrates the Norman courts. They collaborate to thwart royal corruption and bring peace to England while being hunted by the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Cast and characters
Main
Jack Patten as Robert "Rob" Locksley / Robin Hood
Albert Rice portrays young Robin Hood
Lauren McQueen as Marian of Huntingdon / Maid Marian
Billie Gadsdon portrays young Marian
Lydia Peckham as Priscilla of Nottingham
Kiara Kalina Jordan portrays young Priscilla
Marcus Fraser as John Nailer / Little John
Henry Rowley as Will Gamewell
Erica Ford as Rosemary "Ralph" Miller
Angus Castle-Doughty as Friar Tuck
Steven Waddington as the Earl of Huntingdon (season 1)
Connie Nielsen as Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine
Sean Bean as the Sheriff of Nottingham
Graeme Thomas King as Prince John (season 2; recurring season 1)
James Purefoy as King Henry (season 2)
Colin O'Donoghue as Prince Richard (season 2)
Luke Roberts as Amaury D'Montfort (season 2)
Production
Development
The series received a series order from MGM+ in September 2024, with John Glenn and Jonathan English set as writers and to both executive produce. Glenn also serves as showrunner while English serves as the director of five episodes, including the pilot. Todd Lieberman of Hidden Pictures also serves as an executive producer, while Lionsgate Television acts as the main production studio.
Principal photography began in Serbia in February 2025.
On February 24, 2026, MGM+ renewed the series for a ten-episode second season. Filming began at PFI Studios in Serbia in July 2026.
Casting
In January 2025, Jack Patten was cast in the lead role of Robin Hood in his television debut. In February, Sean Bean was cast as the Sheriff of Nottingham and Lauren McQueen was cast as Maid Marian. Additional main cast members announced included Lydia Peckham, Steven Waddington, Marcus Fraser, Angus Castle-Doughty, and Henry Rowley. The following month, Connie Nielsen was cast as Eleanor of Aquitaine. In April, Richard Lintern, Erica Ford, Ryan Gage, Oscar Salem, Miloš Timotijević, and Tamara Radovanović were cast in supporting roles. In July, Graeme Thomas King, Tom Mison, Anastasia Griffith, Matija Gredić, Mihailo Lazić, Boban Marjanović, and Jelena Gavrilović also joined the cast in supporting roles.
In July 2026, James Purefoy, Colin O'Donoghue, and Luke Roberts joined the cast for the second season while Graeme Thomas King was promoted to the main cast after guest starring in the first season.
Release
Robin Hood premiered on November 2, 2025, on MGM+.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 77% of 13 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "A classical rendition of the Nottingham legend played straight, this Robin Hood doesn't reinvent the longbow but is polished enough to stir up some merriment." Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 67 out of 100 based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Carol Midgley of The Times wrote, "Is it any good? It's perfectly fine, if very melodramatic. Bean is, as you'd expect, a hefty presence. I'm just not sure why we needed it, and in ten episodes at that, when it's been dramatised umpteen times before." Ty'Kira Smalls of Common Sense Media gave the series 4/5 stars, saying that it "fleshes out rich, cultural origins for this notable folkloric outlaw. Robin Hood is grounded in history and spirituality. Balanced with nuanced, strong characters, this typical tale is a lot more interesting and refreshing this time around." Lucy Mangan of The Guardian gave it three out of five stars, writing, "Look, by any objective measure Robin Hood is terrible. Subjectively? I couldn't be having more fun and I suspect it will be the same for anyone who goes into it with the right attitude. If it's not for you, fine. You can look forward to whatever great thing Sean Bean does next that this is paying for."
The casting of a black actor as Little John, the depiction of 12th-century Anglo-Saxons as still having a robust pagan tradition (when, in reality, Anglo-Saxon England had been thoroughly Christianised by the time of the 11th-century Norman Conquest), and the character of Much the Miller's Son being gender flipped led to accusations of "wokery" being levelled against the series. In an opinion piece for Radio Times, Dr Sean McGlynn (who has written extensively on the Robin Hood legend) said that the racial and religious aspects were indeed historically inaccurate but the depiction of Much the Miller's Son as a disguised woman, while not a feature of any previous retelling of the Robin Hood story, was nevertheless plausible on account of the levels of female criminality at the time. McGlynn went on to state that, while there are "many fascinating historical clues" about Robin Hood, the overall legend "was, from the start, designed as entertainment" without a strict requirement for historicity and that the series was just another example of how the basic story was "infinitely adaptable".