It's The Start Of An Era For Alan Ritchson's 3-Part Prime Video Series

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Alan Ritchson with a bloody face in Reacher

Published Jul 17, 2026, 8:30 AM EDT

Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock.

Back in the day, when a TV network had a hit show, they kept it on the air for as long as it was profitable, until, hundreds of episodes later, they finally let it die. The streamers are still doing that in the streaming age, but they’ve gone a step further. These days, it’s not enough to just drag out one hit show for as long as possible; they have to expand it into a larger cinematic universe with sequels and spinoffs, too. It’s the Marvel-ification of franchise filmmaking; every other studio saw how well interconnected storytelling was working for the MCU, and decided to do it for themselves.

Netflix has spun off Stranger Things, Apple has spun off For All Mankind, and Disney+ has spun off The Mandalorian. All the streamers are doing this, but no one is guiltier than Amazon. Whenever Prime Video has a big hit, Amazon doesn’t waste any time flooding the market with offshoots. After The Boys had earned a lot of brownie points mocking Marvel for its sprawling, endless storytelling, Amazon greenlit four spinoffs to expand the universe. One year after Bosch ended, Prime debuted a sequel, Bosch: Legacy.

Reacher is the latest Amazon streaming franchise to get spun off into a wider cinematic universe. Based on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels, Reacher is the most thrilling action show on the air right now. After Tom Cruise played Reacher as a generic Tom Cruise hero, Alan Ritchson has brought that iconic character to life, straight off the page. In the books, Reacher is a musclebound superman — Batman without a mask — and, thanks to the grit and brutality and breathtaking physicality of Ritchson’s performance, the TV show has gotten that just right. In just a few short weeks, Reacher will premiere its first spinoff series.

Reacher's First Spinoff, Neagley, Debuts On Prime Video On September 16

Maria Sten as Frances Neagley dressed in formal attire and tilting her head in Reacher Season 2

Reacher is set to debut its highly anticipated fourth season — based on the 13th novel in Child’s series, Gone Tomorrow — with a three-episode premiere on August 12. After that, the season will release episodes weekly until September 16. But Reacher fans don’t need to be dejected come September 16, because that’s not all. On September 16, Amazon will also release its first Reacher spinoff, Neagley.

Maria Sten is reprising her role from the flagship series as Frances Neagley. Neagley works in corporate security now, but she’s a key figure from Reacher’s past: she served alongside him as a Master sergeant in the U.S. Army’s 110th Special Investigations Unit. Neagley’s spinoff series will follow her on her own Reacher-style investigation. When an old friend dies under suspicious circumstances, Neagley sets out to uncover the truth.

Amazon is set to release Neagley’s entire first season all at once, harking back to the Netflix binge-watching model. Reacher started out with this model — Prime dropped all eight episodes of Reacher season 1 on February 4, 2022 — but subsequent seasons have milked the audience’s enthusiasm with a more traditional weekly release model. Neagley season 1 is following in the footsteps of Reacher season 1 with an all-at-once drop, so you can watch it like a long movie.

When Neagley drops on September 16, Reacher will officially become the next Amazon streaming franchise to get expanded into a larger cinematic universe with multiple shows on the go. Reacher is still going strong — it’s been renewed for season 5 before season 4 has even premiered — and now, Amazon is looking to exploit it for additional revenue streams. Next, we might get a small-town cop show starring Roscoe Conklin, or a legal drama starring David O’Donnell. The sky is the limit; Reacher is a goldmine of spinoff potential.