“I Think I Need to Kill You”: The New Woman Assassin in <i>Hanna</i> and <i>Killing Eve</i>

ABSTRACT Killing Eve and Hanna feature women assassins, who are examined here in the context of the action woman, arguing that the depiction of women action in these two series marks a departure from traditional iterations of this and related character tropes. Rather than adhering to typical “containment strategies” (Purse 2011) used to mitigate the threat of women aggression, this article demonstrates how Hanna and Villanelle challenge conventional conceptions of gender binaries and redefine the action woman. Consequently, they contribute to the multiplicity of images of women characters and push the boundaries of earlier conceptions of the women‐centered action‐drama series.