The 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' show's opening cleverly says goodbye to the original Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie movie — here's how

• Prime Video's "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" series stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine.

• It's a reimagining of the 2005 movie of the same name.

• The opening scene is an unsubtle way of saying goodbye to the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie movie.

In an age of franchises, reboots, and legacy sequels, it's surprising when a pre-established property feels genuinely unique. Thankfully, Prime Video's "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" TV series stands apart from the usual pitfalls of nostalgia bait and familiarity.

In the show, Donald Glover and Maya Erskine play John and Jane Smith, two assassins employed by a mysterious company to carry out missions together under the guise of a fake marriage.

It's a little different from the premise of the 2005 movie starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie that it's based on, which sees the pair of A-listers as a married couple who are unaware of one another's true profession as a spy until they're tasked with assassinating each other.

By the movie's end, the couple have used explosive shoot-outs and brutal fist-fights to work through their marital troubles, before finding that they work better as a team when they embrace their respective roles as assassins.

The movie ends with John and Jane finding peace and marital harmony after successfully battling a squad of soldiers sent by their employers.

While neither Pitt or Jolie appear in the Amazon TV show alongside Glover and Erskine, the opening episode finds a metaphorical way of saying goodbye to the "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" movie. Here's how.

The 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' show's opening scene, featuring Alexander Skarsgård, seems to reference the 2005 movie

The premiere opens with Alexander Skarsgård and Eiza Gonzalez as another John and Jane couple living in an isolated house in the middle of nowhere. It's implied that they've gone rogue from the espionage company together, similar to how Pitt and Jolie's characters do at the end of the 2005 movie.

But their blissful existence is shattered when assassins attack them, and John (Skarsgard) is killed when he gets shot in the head. Jane's (Gonzalez) immediate reaction is to go on a rampage using machine guns, but she swiftly gets shot in the chest by a sniper, killing her.

While the couple are not literally meant to be Pitt and Jolie's characters from the film, the message is very clear.

To borrow a phrase from a galaxy far, far away: "Let the past die, kill it if you have to."

By murdering a previous version of John and Jane in the opening moments, the Amazon series appears to be saying goodbye to the original movie and letting audiences know they're in for something new.

In the first episode, it couldn't be clearer that this is a much different beast from the Doug Liman movie. It doesn't rush into throwing the couple into huge action sequences, instead letting the situation breathe.

Even the unhurried cinematography takes the time to show off their bespoke New York townhouse, with elegance and class oozing out of every room.

So while audiences will already be familiar with the idea of married spies, the "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" series feels fresh enough to stand on its own two feet.

Marriage, eh? Till death do us part, indeed.

"Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is streaming now on Prime Video.

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