Banshee: The Boys Star’s 38-Part HBO Max Thriller Makes Reacher Look Tame

Published Nov 11, 2026, 10:30 AM EST Greg is a Lead TV Writer & Critic at Screen Rant with expertise in new streaming releases. He's published over 3000 articles at SR, including weekly recommendation guides and dozens of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. He previously worked in Development at ABC Television & Lawrence Bender Productions. Greg majored in Film Production at Chapman University's Dodge College. Greg also has years of broadcast TV production experience at major networks such as NBC, TNT, and ESPN. He currently lives in Greater Boston. The Boys star Antony Starr leads a brutal 38-episode HBO Max action thriller about an ex-con posing as a sheriff that is a must-see for Reacher fans. Released in 2013, this genre-blending cop drama has become a cult classic despite its strong 90% Rotten Tomatoes score, making it one of the best hidden-gem series to binge on HBO Max. While Starr became a household name for his iconic portrayal of Homelander in Prime Video's massively successful hit The Boys, some argue he delivers his career-best performance in this show. Anthony Starr is the face of Banshee, one of the most action-packed crime thrillers on HBO Max that even makes Reacher look tame. With 38 episodes across four seasons, it's a perfect high-octane replacement series for fans of both Reacher and The Boys, even if you've never heard of it until now. Banshee was co-created by Jonathan Tropper, best known for See, Warrior, Lucky, and Your Friends & Neighbors. Starr leads a top-notch cast in Banshee that also includes Hoon Lee (East of Eden), Ivana Miličević (The 100), Ulrich Thomsen (The Celebration), and Frankie Faison (Ballard), showcasing his star power well before he rose to international fame on The Boys. Antony Starr’s Banshee Follows An Ex-Con Who Assumes A Sheriff’s Identity Originally released on Cinemax, Banshee follows Antony Starr's unnamed protagonist as an ex-convict and master thief who assumes the identity of a sheriff in a small town called Banshee, Pennsylvania. He arrives in Banshee after just being released from a 15-year prison sentence for a diamond heist gone wrong, looking for his past lover and accomplice, Anastasia (Miličević). To his surprise, Anastasia has completely reinvented herself under the name Carrie Hopewell and is married with two kids to the town's district attorney, Gordon Hopewell. Rather than embracing him with warm arms, Carrie becomes worried that her old lover could expose her criminal past. The unnamed thief assumes the identity of Lucas Hood, the newly appointed sheriff of Banshee who has yet to meet anyone in town. The thief impersonates Lucas after meeting him at a bar, where he is killed during a bar fight, giving the thief the perfect cover to build a new life. After introducing himself to the town as Lucas, he assumes the responsibilities of being Banshee's new sheriff, leading the local police department and its deputies. Although Lucas has successfully pulled off his disguise, he is forced to deal with various threats both past and present, including Kai Proctor (Thomsen), who controls Banshee's criminal underworld, and Rabbit (Ben Cross), a New York mob boss who has unfinished business with him and Anastasia. These factors set up the main premise in Banshee season 1, resting on the tension that Lucas's cover could be blown at any minute. Banshee Delivers Even More Brutal Action Than Prime Video’s Reacher Reacher is known and celebrated for its elaborate and well-choreographed action sequences, but Banshee delivers even more brutal action than Prime Video's hit series. Within Banshee's first five episodes of season 1, the series features several violent confrontations, especially given Lucas's willingness to use force to resolve conflicts, unlike your typical small-town sheriff. Even while Lucas continues to wear his new law enforcement badge, he still plots new robberies, proving that his new profession hasn't rid him of his criminal roots. Where Jack Reacher generally employs violence to defend himself and gather information for the greater good, Lucas Hood is driven by much more self-interested motivations, which makes him much more unpredictable. The fight sequences throughout Banshee are the best examples of the brutality in its action scenes, delivering a graphic degree of violence that has yet to be seen in any of Reacher's existing four seasons. Reacher has certainly gotten darker in its more recent seasons, but Banshee exists in a category of its own when it comes to ruthless violence and pulse-pounding action. By comparison, Banshee makes Reacher look tame and is just as high-quality a series that's worth binge-watching on HBO Max. Banshee Release Date 2013 - 2016-00-00 Showrunner Jonathan Tropper