Cross, which recently premiered on Prime Video, is a gripping new series based on James Patterson's best-selling Alex Cross novels. The series, created by showrunner and executive producer Ben Watkins, follows Aldis Hodge as Cross, a detective and forensic psychologist who is able to dig into the minds of victims and their killers in order to identify and capture murderers, all while grappling with the trauma of his wife's death.

Watkins recently spoke with SciFi Vision, sharing some insights on adapting Patterson’s novels. Creating a series of eight episodes as opposed to a film allowed for deeper character exploration alongside a complex thriller plot, according to Watkins. “I went back into the books and realized there are elements of the books that never made it to the screen,” explained the creator. “…We get to do an intricate, very twisty thriller, but we also get a chance to go into the characters.”

The executive producer also emphasized the creative freedom within adaptation constraints while still paying homage to the original. “When you have parameters, they actually trigger more imagination,” said Watkins. “The creative solutions are often better and lead to something much better than the problems…I didn't think it was limiting at all to have to draw from existing characters. I think that that was an advantage. The fact that there's mythology that you want to serve, that's not a bad thing, because there're people out there that really love that mythology.”

For more from Watkins, watch the full interview below. You can stream Cross in its entirety on Prime Video.