5 Prime Video shows I'm downloading on my phone before my next flight

Credit: Lucas Oliveira de Gouveia/How-To Geek Published Jul 21, 2026, 2:30 PM EDT Derek Malcolm has been covering the worlds of tech and entertainment for more than two decades. Before coming to How-To Geek in 2025, Derek was a contributing editor and writer for the A/V and Home Theater section at Digital Trends, where he wrangled and wrote everything from what to watch on Netflix to reviews, explainers, and guides on the latest Bluetooth speakers, turntables, projectors, and other A/V gear. Based in Toronto, Derek graduated from Humber College's Journalism program in 1999, after which he started covering the worlds of music, movies, TV, and celebrity for publications such as TV Guide, Hello! magazine, and Inside Entertainment. He then got the bug for covering tech and gadgets in 2006, when he served as editor-in-chief of Canadian tech magazine Connected for more than a decade. An avid skier, when all the snow's gone Derek can be found at home spinning vinyl with his daughter or cheering on his favorite F1 team, McLaren. Sign in to your How-To Geek account When it comes to in-flight entertainment, there are two kinds of flyers—the ones who gamble on the random crud on the seat-back screen or the airplane Wi-Fi and those who download their entertainment the night before. Be the second kind. TV shows offer the ultimate flexibility when flying. You can watch a single episode between the drink cart and your nap, or binge a whole season on a long-haul flight—it's your call. For my next flight, I've got a handful of shows on Prime Video that will make excellent distractions in the air, including a Tom Hiddleston spy thriller I've gotten hooked on, some gorgeous animation shows, a noir Nicolas Cage, and a Canadian sketch comedy nobody else in my house wants to watch. The Ghost in the Shell The stunning reboot of a cyberpunk classic Starting with the newest show on this list, The Ghost in the Shell premiered earlier this month on Prime Video, and it's a genuine event for anime fans that I cannot wait to check out. Animated by the studio behind Dan Da Dan, this adaptation of Masamune Shirow's original manga is said to restore story arcs other versions left out. It follows the iconic Major Motoko Kusanagi and her Section 9 counter-cyberterrorism unit as they chase the hacker known as The Puppet Master and other threats through a stunningly vivid neon world. The ethereal music adds to the show’s vibe, too. New episodes arrive weekly, so you can't binge them all yet—but downloading what's available and being caught up for when I get home is reward enough. The Ghost in the Shell Release Date July 7, 2026 Network Fuji TV, Kansai TV, Tokai Television Broadcasting, Fukui TV, Hokkaido Cultural Broadcasting, Iwate Menkoi Television, Sendai Television, SAGA TV, TNC, OHK, Ishikawa TV, Kochi Sun Sun Broadcasting, TV Shizuoka, Television Shin Hiroshima System, NST, NBS, Sakuranbo TV, TSK, Ehime Broadcasting, KTS, Fukushima TV, AKT, Toyama Television, TV Kumamoto, Okinawa Television Broadcasting, KTN Cast Maaya Sakamoto, Hiroki Yasumoto, Yuichi Nakamura, Kazuhiro Yamaji, Kousuke Goto, Toru Nara, Marie Ôi, Tomoko Kaneda Directors Mokochan, Lucien Dodge, Touma Kimura Writers Tô Enjo Main Genre Anime Creator(s) Shirow Masamune Producers Kohei Sakita, Kengo Abe, Daichi Sasa, Hirokuni Taniguchi Seasons 1 Studio Science Saru Japanese Title Koukaku Kidoutai Based On Manga The Night Manager (Season 2) Tom Hiddleston's suave spy gets a second act I love me some spy thrills, and The Night Manager has been on my watch list for years in anticipation of a second season, and it finally dropped. A decade after Jonathan Pine (Hiddleston) infiltrated the corrupt world of arms dealer Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie), Pine (now called Matthew Ellis) heads to Colombia to get close to Teddy Dos Santos (Diego Calva) to bring down a plot for political regime change. Both seasons are there for download on Prime Video, and a third season is confirmed, so consider this your homework. The Night Manager Release Date 2016 - 2025-00-00 Network BBC One Cast Tom Hiddleston, Douglas Hodge, Olivia Colman, Noah Jupe, Hugh Laurie, Diego Calva, Camila Morrone, Tom Hollander, Paul Chahidi, Elizabeth Debicki, Hayley Squires, David Harewood, Alistair Petrie, Caroline Loncq, Erich Redman, John le Carré, Malcolm Freeman, Natasha Little, Russell Tovey, Said Bey, Tobias Menzies, Bijan Daneshmand, Duncan Pow, Katherine Kelly, Marta Torné, Nader Boussandel, Adrian Tauss, Esther Regina, Gertrude Thoma, Mansour Badri, Rami Nasr, Mohamed Boussalem, Gregor Acuña-Pohl, Fleur Keith, Michael Nardone Directors Susanne Bier, Georgi Banks-Davies Writers David Farr Franchise(s) Based on a novel by John le Carré Main Genre Thriller Creator(s) David Farr Producers Rob Bullock, Matthew Patnick Seasons 2 Streaming Service(s) A Executive Producer(s) Arthur Wang, Chris Rice, William D. Johnson, Susanne Bier, Tessa Inkelaar, Tom Hiddleston, Stephen Cornwell, Stephen Garrett, Adrián Guerra, Gaynor Holmes, Georgi Banks-Davies, Hugh Laurie, Joe Tsai, Michele Wolkoff, Nicholas Cornwell, Polly Hill, Simon Cornwell The Legend of Vox Machina (Season 4) Critical Role's band of misfit heroes reunite for round four Prime's foul-mouthed Dungeons & Dragons adaptation, The Legend of Vox Machina, is a runaway hit, with every one of its four seasons landing perfect 100% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. The new season (which dropped in June) picks up a year after the fall of the dragons of the Chroma Conclave, with Vox Machina scattered across Exandria until a long-slumbering evil rudely ends everyone's nice time. Thankfully, all episodes are available to binge (I always hated waiting for new ones), but the excellently brutal violence and nonstop swearing make Vox Machina a definite headphones' situation. The Legend of Vox Machina Release Date January 27, 2022 Network Prime Video Cast Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Liam O'Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Matthew Mercer, Travis Willingham, Will Friedle, Troy Baker, Robbie Daymond, Logic, Mason Alexander Park, Zoe O'Brien, David Tennant, Tony Hale, Felicia Day, Max Mittelman, Stephanie Beatriz, Khary Payton, Indira Varma, Darin De Paul, Anjali Bhimani, Grey DeLisle Showrunner Brandon Auman Directors Young Heller, Eugene Lee, Alicia Chan Writers Eugene Son, Travis Willingham, Chris Wyatt, Kevin Burke, Suzanne Keilly, Mae Catt, Todd Casey, Ashly Burch, May Chan, Marc Bernardin Main Genre Animation Creator(s) Chris Prynoski Producers Ashley Johnson, Chris Prynoski, Sam Riegel, Taliesin Jaffe, Ben Kalina, Brandon Auman, Laura Bailey, Liam O'Brien, Matthew Mercer, Marisha Ray Seasons 4 Story By Sam Riegel Streaming Service(s) Prime Video Executive Producer(s) Ashley Johnson, Chris Prynoski, Sam Riegel, Taliesin Jaffe, Ben Kalina, Brandon Auman, Laura Bailey, Liam O'Brien, Matthew Mercer, Marisha Ray Spider-Noir Nicolas Cage breathes life into his animated Spider-Verse character One of the unique and creative shows Prime Video has ever produced, Spider-Noir rips Nicolas Cage from just doing the voice for this enigmatic character from the animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and drops the actor into Depression-era New York as Ben Reilly, a grizzled private investigator who’s hung up the Spider mask in favor of a quieter life. Of course, corruption, violence, and a beautiful woman drag him back in. All eight super-stylish episodes make for a tidy single-flight binge, and (here’s the unique and creative part) it streams in both "True-Hue Full Color" and "Authentic Black & White." You choose. Spider-Noir Release Date May 27, 2026 Network MGM+ Cast Nicolas Cage, Lamorne Morris, Brendan Gleeson, Jack Huston, Li Jun Li, Randy Oglesby, Richard Robichaux, Karen Rodriguez, Abraham Popoola, Lukas Haas, Cameron Britton, Cary Christopher, Michael Kostroff, Scott MacArthur, Amanda Schull, Amy Aquino, Andrew Robinson Showrunner Oren Uziel, Steve Lightfoot Directors Harry Bradbeer Franchise(s) Spider-Man Main Genre Action Creator(s) Oren Uziel Producers Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, Amy Pascal, Steve Lightfoot Seasons 1 Streaming Service(s) Prime Video Release Window 2026 Executive Producer(s) Harry Bradbeer, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Aditya Sood, Amy Pascal, Dan Shear The Kids in the Hall (2022) Canadian sketch legends, exhumed and still weird Sadly, the original seasons of The Kids in the Hall are not available to U.S. Prime Video subscribers currently, but its excellent 2022 revival is. The Kids are back, as Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson return after a 27-year gap, digging themselves out of their graves in the opening sketch. And these eight brilliant episodes prove the Canuck sketch legends still got it, with refreshed recurring characters like the Headcrusher, Buddy Cole, Kathy and Cathy, and the Policemen, along with some new edgy material (and maybe some full-frontal male nudity). Chase it with The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks, a two-part documentary also on Prime, and you've got a full flight of head-crushing. The Kids in the Hall Release Date 2022 - 2022-00-00 Network Prime Video Cast Bruce McCulloch, Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, Scott Thompson, Tommie-Amber Pirie, Debra McGrath, Christina Pitts Jazzar Producers Bruce McCulloch, Colin Brunton, Dave Foley, Kelly Makin, Kevin McDonald, Lorne Michaels, Mark McKinney, Norm Hiscock, Scott Thompson, Jennifer Goodhue, Jen Kirkman, Matt Watts, Julie Klausner, Andy Garland, Mark Valdez Seasons 1 Fly right with these Prime Video picks Wherever you're headed, these downloadable Prime Video picks will make your flight go by in a jiffy. For more recommendations across every streaming service and what's worth watching next, keep an eye on our streaming coverage at How-To Geek. Subscription with ads Yes, via Prime membership or $9/month Simultaneous streams 3 Live TV No Price Included with Amazon Prime subscription ($15/month or $139/year) or $9/month standalone