Amazon Prime Video is one of the most popular streaming services around, more widely used than Disney+ but not as big as Netflix. One of its biggest shows, The Boys, just wrapped up. But what about the next biggest show on Prime Video? What rises up to replace it?
That’s hard to predict, so it’s safest to get familiar with some of the other ongoing series on Prime Video in case they blow up. There are a lot of terrific shows running on the service, and some of them are already pretty close to the finish line, so you don’t have much time to catch up.
Netflix vs. Amazon Prime Video: How I Choose Where to Watch
I use both streaming services, but for very different reasons.
The Legend of Vox Machina
Only one season left
The Legend of Vox Machina is based on Critical Role, a long-running web series where a group of performers play games of Dungeons & Dragons. The show is basically an animated adaptation of one of their campaigns, with all the members returning to voice the characters.
If you’ve ever played D&D with a group of good friends, The Legend of Vox Machina will feel familiar. A ragtag group of adventurers find themselves fighting dragons, uncovering conspiracies, cracking wise, and making poor romantic choices. The show can be funny, heartwrenching, and exciting, often in quick succession. At times it really does have the energy of a frazzled late-night D&D session, which is a compliment.
Prime Video has already aired three full seasons of The Legend of Vox Machina, and the fourth is is wrapping up. The fifth season will be the show’s last, so now is the perfect time to catch up on this fun little gem of a series.
- Release Date
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January 27, 2022
- Network
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Prime Video
- Showrunner
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Brandon Auman
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Laura Bailey
Vex’ahlia (voice)
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Taliesin Jaffe
Percy (voice)
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Ashley Johnson
Pike (voice)
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Liam O’Brien
Vax’ildan (voice)
The Devil’s Hour
Two seasons out, one more on the way
The Devil’s Hour is one of the most undersung thrillers around, not just on Prime Video. It’s about a social worker named Lucy Chambers (Jessica Raine) who wakes up at exactly 3:33 every morning with the vague feeling that something is wrong. Her unease is connected to a prisoner named Gideon Shepherd (Capaldi), who is linked to a stream of seemingly unrelated killings.
Without spoiling the specifics, the answers have to do with the manipulation of time. The show is produced by Steven Moffat, famous for his time on Doctor Who, and it shows. The Devil’s Hour is a sci-fi mystery where trying to piece together exactly what’s happening is part of the fun.
The Devil’s Hour has two seasons already out on Prime Video. A third and final season is on the way, so it’s another series you’d best catch up on now, before it’s too late.
- Release Date
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October 28, 2022
- Directors
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Johnny Allan, Isabelle Sieb, Shaun James Grant
- Writers
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Tom Moran
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Jessica Raine
Lucy Chambers
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Peter Capaldi
Gideon Shepherd
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Nikesh Patel
DI Ravi Dhillon
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Benjamin Chivers
Isaac Stephens
Cross
Season 3 is on the way
Cross is based on James Patterson’s series of Alex Cross books, about a forensic psychologist and homicide detective working in Washington, D.C. He’s been played on the big screen by Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry. This time around, Aldis Hodge steps into the role and gives a sensitive, electrifying performance that’s almost worth the price of admission itself.
At its core, Cross is a well-written, meat and potatoes-style detective series, with lots of twists and turns and action. Each season follows Alex as he investigates a crime, all while trying to take care of his family in the wake of his wife’s death. Prime Video has already aired two seasons of the show and has ordered a third, but there’s no guarantee it’ll continue after that. It may depend on whether you watch it.
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- Release Date
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November 14, 2024
- Network
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Prime Video
- Directors
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Craig Siebels, Nzingha Stewart
-
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Isaiah Mustafa
John Sampson
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Juanita Jennings
Regina Nana Mama Cross
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Invincible
Halfway up the mountain
Invincible is an animated superhero show based on the comic of the same name by Robert Kirkman, the same guy who created The Walking Dead. Like that show, Invincible is in it for the long haul. Amazon has aired four seasons already and gotten through roughly half of Kirkman’s comics, so hopefully we have another four to go.
Invincible is a show of contrasts. It playfully pokes fun at superhero conventions while earnestly embracing them. The violence is some of the most extreme you’ll ever see on a TV show, but it’s not just there to be edgy; lead character Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) is an incredibly wholesome, good-hearted hero, and you earnestly root for him and his allies to win.
The show also boasts an insane lineup of voice actors, including J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen, Zachary Quinto, Zazie Beetz, Walton Goggins, Mahershala Ali, and more. The acting is of a much higher calibre than you might expect on an animated superhero show.
- Release Date
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March 26, 2021
- Network
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Amazon Prime Video
- Showrunner
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Robert Kirkman, Simon Racioppa
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Steven Yeun
Mark Grayson / Invincible (voice)
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Sandra Oh
Debbie Grayson (voice)
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J. K. Simmons
Nolan Grayson / Omni-Man (voice)
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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Will it make it to the finish line?
The Rings of Power is a Lord of the Rings prequel show set thousands of years before Frodo or Sam or any of those folks from the original trilogy were even born. It tells the tale of when the dark lord Sauron (Charlie Vickers) first rose to power, and of the people who try to stop him.
Amazon has already aired two seasons of The Rings of Power and will air a third later this year. Originally, the plan was to make five seasons, and that may still happen, but the show hasn’t been the giant hit Amazon wanted it to be, which is a shame given how much money they spent on it. In terms of scope and scale, the show is remarkable, but Amazon may choose to pull the plug earlier than planned. If the upcoming third season is indeed the end, you still have time to watch the first two before it gets here.
- Release Date
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September 1, 2022
- Network
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Amazon Prime Video
- Showrunner
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John D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Louise Hooper, Charlotte Brändström, Wayne Yip
-
-
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Charles Edwards
Lord Celebrimbor
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Markella Kavenagh
Nori Brandyfoot
Hazbin Hotel
Squint and you can see the end
One more animated series for the road: Hazbin Hotel is an offbeat series you’ll know if you’re interested in watching by the time you get to the end of the synopsis: Charlie Morningstar (Erika Henningsen), the princess of Hell, has a dream to save the denizens of the underworld from extermination by proving that they can be redeemed and allowed to enter heaven. To that end, she sets up a hotel where sinners can stay to be rehabilitated. While that plays out, we enjoy lots of off-color humor and learn about the characters as they express themselves in Broadway-style show tunes, sung by a cast of trained professionals.
Hazbin Hotel is the kind of quirky series that attracts an extremely dedicated, if niche, fanbase. There are already two seasons out, and Amazon has already renewed the series for the three more. So by the end it will have five seasons, exactly the number creator Vivienne Medrano says she needs to tell the full story.
- Release Date
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January 18, 2024
- Network
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Prime Video
- Directors
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Vivienne Medrano
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Stephanie Beatriz
Vaggie (voice)
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Alex Brightman
Sir Pentious (voice)
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Kevin Del Aguila
Baxter (voice)
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Fallout
A few more years in the wasteland
Based on the video game series of the same name, Fallout is set in a post-apocalyptic future where humanity has risen from the ashes of nuclear war and divided itself into all kinds of strange factions, including the Brotherhood of Steel, which patrols the Wasteland in giant metal mech suits; and Caesar’s Legion, which is modeled off the armies of ancient Rome. Lucy (Ella Purnell), who grew up in a sheltered vault underground, emerges into this crazy world wide-eyed and (seemingly) unprepared. She has great chemistry with the Ghoul (Walton Goggins), a cynical veteran of the Wasteland.
Unlike The Rings of Power, all the money that Amazon has invested in Fallout has paid off. The show is a hit, and while it’s hard to know exactly how long it’ll last, the creators are planning at least another few seasons beyong the two that Amazon has already aired.
- Release Date
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April 10, 2024
- Network
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Amazon Prime Video
- Showrunner
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Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan
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Ella Purnell
Lucy MacLean
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Moises Arias
Norm MacLean
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Walton Goggins
The Ghoul / Cooper Howard
In on the ground floor
Meanwhile, there are some brand new Prime Video series that could well be in it for the long haul, including Off Campus, Scarpetta, and Young Sherlock. And there are already-established hits like Reacher to binge if you haven’t gotten around to it. Prime Video doesn’t lack for great selections if you know where to look.
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