Amazon Now Owns James Bond, But Prime Video Already Has The Perfect Spy Franchise

Published Aug 8, 2026, 6:06 PM EDT Tom is a Senior Staff Writer at Screen Rant, with expertise covering everything from hilarious sitcoms to jaw-dropping sci-fi epics. Initially he was an Updates writer, though before long he found his way to the TV and movies team. He now spends his days keeping Screen Rant readers informed about the TV shows of yesteryear, whether it's recommending hidden gems that may have been missed by genre fans or deep diving into ways your favorite shows have (or haven't) stood the test of time. Tom is based in the UK and when he's not writing about TV shows, he's watching them. He's also an avid horror fiction writer, gamer, and has a Dungeons and Dragons habit that he tries (and fails) to keep in check. Amazon's 2025 acquisition of creative control over the James Bond franchise caught immediate widespread attention, and with good reason. Few IP’s carry the same weight as 007, a series that has defined cinematic espionage for more than six decades while generating billions at the global box office. For Amazon, securing Bond was more than a prestigious business deal. It was the acquisition of arguably the most valuable piece of creative real estate in the entire spy genre, one that can be mined for movies and TV shows for years to come. With Amazon's first James Bond project still in development, excitement is already running high. Every rumor surrounding the next actor to play Bond and every production update quickly becomes headline news. However, while James Bond appears destined to become one of Prime Video's defining franchises, the streamer has quietly spent years building something remarkably similar. Long before Bond will make his inevitable debut on the platform, Prime Video already has an outstanding espionage series in the form of Jack Ryan. Based on Tom Clancy's bestselling novels, Jack Ryan's four seasons arrived between 2018 and 2023, with 2026 bringing the feature-length follow-up Jack Ryan: Ghost War. John Krasinski stars as the legendary CIA analyst, and while the character has previously appeared in several successful movies, Prime Video’s series never depends on that cinematic history. If Amazon eventually transforms James Bond into a streaming powerhouse, it will almost certainly succeed. However, Jack Ryan proves Prime Video already possesses the best spy franchise of the modern age. Prime Video's Jack Ryan Is The Definitive Spy Franchise Of The Streaming Era For decades, the James Bond movies have been considered the gold standard for cinematic espionage. In the world of streaming and prestige TV, however, Prime Video's Jack Ryan occupies much the same position. Few original series have combined globe-trotting adventures with grounded action and consistently high production values as effectively. What’s more, the show isn’t all style, no substance. Rather than relying on spectacle alone, Jack Ryan delivers believable intelligence work and layered international conspiracies that ensure every episode is essential. This balance is Jack Ryan’s greatest strength and why no streaming spy series realistically comes close. It offers the explosive action sequences of the James Bond movies or other cinematic spy franchises like Mission: Impossible without abandoning its roots in realistic political intrigue. Every episode of Jack Ryan contains just as much blockbuster-level high-octane spectacle as it does tense political thrills. Ryan’s mind is his greatest weapon and just as essential for his operational success as his combat prowess. This potent mix makes for truly great espionage storytelling, with a flavor few other modern movies or shows in the genre can match. Amazon's ambition to secure James Bond's future makes enormous strategic sense, but if this leads to original exclusive Prime Video content, Bond is arriving on a platform that already mastered the streaming spy formula. Rather than filling a missing gap in Prime Video's lineup, 007 will be joining the service that already delivered arguably the strongest espionage franchise of the streaming era in the form of Jack Ryan. There's A Lot Jack Ryan Does Better Than James Bond Calling Jack Ryan the James Bond of streaming is not an exaggeration or sensationalism. It’s a bold claim, but one that holds up even under scrutiny. James Bond may be considered by many to be the gold standard of spy-based entertainment, but the 007 franchise isn’t flawless. There are plenty of valid criticisms of Bond’s cinematic outings despite the British spy’s iconic status, and Prime’s Jack Ryan never seems to repeat the same mistakes. For example, James Bond has sometimes struggled to reinvent aspects of its classic formula for the modern age. As tastes have veered more and more towards realism, aspects like 007’s iconic over-the-top villains and his wide array of gadgets have started to feel somewhat dated. Jack Ryan replaces the increasingly implausible genre tropes that James Bond helped establish for grounded intelligence work, creating scenarios that feel rooted in real-world threats rather than increasingly elaborate supervillain plots. Jack Ryan is also a more rounded protagonist than any version of James Bond. His intelligence is consistently his greatest weapon, with analysis and diplomacy proving just as important as his combat skills, and there are no gadgets to be found, either. Ryan is certainly capable in a confrontation, but violence rarely feels like his default solution (unlike Bond, who famously is all too happy to reach into his tuxedo for his Walther PPK). That makes Jack Ryan’s victories more satisfying because they’re earned through strategic thinking instead of overwhelming physical dominance and gizmos that facilitate a deus-ex-machina approach to problem-solving. What’s more, Ryan’s teammates are always essential parts of his mission. Jack’s Relationships with Greer (Wendell Pierce), November (Michael Kelly), and other recurring allies evolve over multiple seasons instead of resetting with each new adventure. James Bond will always define cinematic espionage, but with Jack Ryan, Amazon already has a franchise that showcases many of the genre's strengths even better than 007 itself. Release Date 2018 - 2023-00-00 Network Prime Video Showrunner Carlton Cuse Cast Wendell Pierce James Greer Directors Jann Turner, Andrew Bernstein, Dennie Gordon, Kevin Dowling, Lukas Ettlin, Patricia Riggen, David Petrarca, Phil Abraham, Carlton Cuse, Morten Tyldum Writers Amy Berg, Dario Scardapane, Nolan Dunbar, Vince Calandra, David Graziano, Steven Kane, Marc Halsey, Robert Port Franchise(s) Tom Clancy, Jack Ryan Creator(s) Graham Roland, Carlton Cuse