Television series

Nikita

Name: Nikita
Genre: Drama, Action, Crime
Released: 2010
Cast: Maggie Q, Shane West, Lyndsy Fonseca, Aaron Stanford, Melinda Clarke

Nikita is glossy CW spy-action at its most enjoyable: a trained killer turned rogue, taking down the black-ops agency that made her while dragging her ex-handler-turned-lover along for the ride. It's soapy, propulsive, unapologetically pulpy — hand-to-hand fights, double crosses, and Maggie Q looking phenomenal doing both. Good for anyone wanting revenge plotting with a heartbeat, not high art.

TVMaze rating

7.8

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Alias2001

Sydney Bristow invented the wig-and-betrayal spy-drama template Nikita runs on — a woman living two lives, torn between the agency that trained her and the family she's lost. Same DNA, bigger mythology, earlier and arguably better.

But The mythology balloons into Rambaldi-prophecy nonsense by season three, and it never quite recovers its early focus.

Killing Eve2018

Swap Division's grey cubicles for MI6 boredom and you get the same fascination with a woman built to kill, except here the chase is intimate, funny, and genuinely strange.

But It's slower, weirder, and more interested in psychology than action; if you came for fight choreography, you'll be waiting.

Hanna2011

A teenage assassin raised in isolation escapes into the world, hunted by the woman who trained her — Nikita's whole premise compressed into two lean, propulsive hours with a Chemical Brothers score.

But It trades series-length relationship-building for economy; you get momentum, not the slow-burn found-family stuff the show does so well.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Nikita1990

This is literally where Nikita comes from — Besson's original film, the direct ancestor of both the 1997 TV series and this CW reboot, and the one that invented the template every version since has been remixing.

Cooler, colder, and far more ruthless than any of its remakes — a death-row killer trained as an assassin by an agency with no illusions about mercy, shot with Besson's early stylish grime.

But It's slower, subtler, and thirty years older; if you want banter and ensemble drama, this is bleaker company.

Atomic Blonde2017

Charlize Theron as a Cold War operative playing every side at once, wrapped in the best fight choreography of the decade and a neon-soaked soundtrack.

But Plot is deliberately hard to follow and style frequently outruns substance — go for the fights, not the espionage logic.

Arrow2012

Same network, same era, same DNA: a vigilante trained by a shadowy order comes home to dismantle the corruption that made them, one arrow (or roundhouse kick) at a time.

But Superhero trappings and an ever-expanding ensemble eventually crowd out the lean revenge story that made the early seasons work.

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A rookie CIA operative navigates handler betrayals and spy-of-the-week missions with the same breezy, network-television confidence Nikita has — good comfort viewing if you want lower stakes.

But Considerably lighter and more procedural; the show rarely commits to the darkness Nikita's revenge plot leans into.

Salt2010

Angelina Jolie as a CIA agent accused of being a sleeper spy, on the run and improvising her way through betrayal after betrayal — the premise distilled into two breathless hours.

But The twists stack up faster than the characters can support them, and there's no time for the show's slower emotional beats.

Chuck2007

Takes the same trained-killer-versus-normal-life tension and plays it for warmth and comedy instead of angst — a nerdy everyman thrown into spy chaos, charming rather than brooding.

But Tonally it's nearly the opposite of Nikita: sunnier, sillier, and far less interested in moral cost or consequence.

The Blacklist2013

A mysterious informant plays every agency against itself for years, dangling the same question Nikita asks: can you ever really trust someone who trained you to lie?

But Its case-of-the-week structure dilutes momentum, and the central mystery gets stretched well past its natural length.

Noir2001no page yet

Same engine — a woman with a violent past pulled back into the assassin life she thought she'd escaped, hunted by the organization that made her — reimagined as moody, melancholic Japanese animation.

Two female assassins crisscross Europe trailing a decades-old conspiracy, in a series more interested in atmosphere and grief than plot mechanics — gorgeous, sad, hypnotic.

But Deliberately slow and elliptical; if you want answers delivered efficiently, this show will test your patience badly.

Miss Sloane2016

Strip out the guns and you get the same shape — a woman shaped by a ruthless institution turns her training against it, playing a long, dangerous game with everyone who trusts her.

Jessica Chastain as a take-no-prisoners lobbyist waging a gun-control fight through pure manipulation — every scene a chess move, all the calculation of Nikita's tradecraft without a single fistfight.

But No action at all — it's dialogue and boardrooms, which will feel like a bait-and-switch if you came for fights.