Amazon Prime used to be recognized as merely an additional expense that sped up your Amazon deliveries and gave you access to exclusive discounts. While Amazon still offers all that under the banner of Prime, their video platform has expanded to be more than just a depository for YouTube videos and Star Trek reruns. Prime is now a notable competitor in the streaming game, debuting numerous original movies and TV series every year. Here are five originals coming out on Amazon Prime this year that you should certainly check out.
Reacher
Based on the book series by Lee Child, this action-spy saga follows the adventures of Jack Reacher, a former member of the United States Army Military Police Corps. Though he wanders the US like a nomad, he still finds himself being called upon to solve difficult cases of national intrigue. This series adaptation will draw from the character’s first book, Killing Floor, and will feature a cast that includes Alan Ritchson, Malcolm Goodwin, Willa Fitzgerald, Chris Webster, Bruce McGill, Maria Sten, and Hugh Thompson. The series will be streaming on Prime in February.
The Legend of Vox Machina
If Netflix’s Arcane has you thirsty for more fantasy animated series based on games, you’ll definitely want to check out The Legend of Vox Machina. Based on the Dungeons & Dragons web series Critical Role, the series follows the adventures of the Vox Machina gang as they attempt to defend their town of Whitestone from the evil forces of Lord and Lady Briarwood. Loaded with action and comedy with an anime style, this animated series comes from creator Matthew Mercer (voice actor on League of Legends) and features the voices of Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, and Travis Willingham. The show will debut on January 28th.
The Kids in the Hall
Remember the Canadian sketch comedy troupe of The Kids in the Hall? They were quite the collective of the early 1990s. They’ve gone their separate ways in acting but always found a way to come back together for some project. Now they’ve returned to their legendary comedy series that made them such notable names with a new batch of irreverent and hilarious sketches. The show has already been filming and will most likely debut sometime in 2022.
The Boys (Season 3)
Based on the comic book series of the same name, the superhero world of The Boys pushes forward with all its corruption and those who fight against it. With congress and the public under assault by such egotistical heroes as the nationalistic and racist hero Homelander, the misfit group of anti-heroes need to step up and prove that heroes idolized by the public are not as good as they’ve been trying to appear. But the gang will have to be reunited as Ryan is captured by the CIA and Hughie is unknowingly helping an assassin gain a higher office. The superhero story will become far more political this season as the corruption of such a world is so slowly unearthed. The third season will start airing in June.
The Boys: Diabolical
If you just can’t wait for the return of The Boys, this animated spin-off may tide you over until the premiere. Diabolical is an eight-episode anthology series that will explore more of the world of the conflicting world of superheroes who are both too deadly for their own good and a huge marketing force. Though animated, the series promises to be just as absurd and grotesquely violent as the show, featuring another appearance by the baby with uncontrollable laser vision that turns people into bloody messes. The show will debut in March, a few months before the Season 3 premiere of The Boys.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Lord of the Rings fans rejoice! Amazon Prime is investing quite the hefty sum into developing a prequel series to the classic fantasy novel series by J.R.R. Tolkein. The show will take place many years before the events of both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. It will center around the creation of the all-powerful rings that could rule all and the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron. The series will feature a big cast that includes Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Morfydd Clark, and Ismael Cruz Cordova. The Rings of Power is currently set to debut in September.