Prime Video's Hit 4-Season Action Thriller Shows Jack Ryan How It's Done

Published Sep 1, 2026, 5:02 PM EDT Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020. While Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan might have lasted four seasons, the Prime Video action thriller franchise has been put to shame by the streaming service’s superior offering in the genre. The bar is only getting higher for action thrillers on streaming services as each of the industry’s major players vies for a slice of the proverbial pie. Apple TV’s Foundation, Silo, Severance, and Dark Matter prove the streamer is heavily focused on sci-fi, but their espionage thriller Slow Horses is quietly one of the best spy TV shows ever made. Similarly, Netflix’s The Night Agent has emerged as a true classic over the last five years, expanding beyond season 1’s adaptation of author Matthew Quirk’s 2019 novel of the same name to tell an original, unpredictable story in its later outings. While Prime Video’s Hanna set the stage for the streaming service’s string of killer action thriller shows back in 2019, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan was the streamer’s flagship franchise in the genre until recently. As of 2026, it is clear that Reacher season 4 has completely outdone Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan season 4, and the Lee Child adaptation has proven better than the earlier Tom Clancy show as a whole. Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan focused on John Krasinski’s former desk jockey turned CIA field agent, while Reacher centers on Alan Ritchson’s hulking drifter and his journeys across America. Where Ryan works for a three-letter agency across the world, Reacher is answerable to no one but himself. Reacher Season 4 Is Far Superior To Jack Ryan's Fourth Season Image via MovieStillsDB This premise has won over critics and viewers more than Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan ever managed, with Reacher avoiding many of the pitfalls of Prime Video’s earlier action spy series while providing a more enjoyable thriller altogether. An adaptation of Child’s 2009 book Gone Tomorrow, Reacher season 4 has a darker, more mature and gritty feel than its predecessors, but the show remains as fun, fast-paced, and enjoyably silly as ever. Many of Prime Video’s attempted Reacher replacements, like Scarpetta and Cross, have made the same mistake as Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan by investing big budgets into recognizable guest star actors. While Reacher season 4’s supporting cast are more than solid, the show’s fourth outing isn’t populated by distractingly famous faces, allowing the propulsive conspiracy plot to drive the show’s action instead. Reacher’s plentiful fistfights and pulse-pounding chases also prove that, while Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan took its title character all over the world and splurged a lot of money on expensive explosions, the franchise didn’t have the same gritty, grounded appeal as Prime Video's more recent hit. While both Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan and Prime Video’s The Boys were costly investments for the streaming service, the latter at least boasted some jaw-dropping special effects thanks to its superhero characters. Reacher Has 100% Won Prime Video's Battle Of The Jacks In contrast, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan spent a huge amount of money ferrying its main characters from Venezuela to the Czech Republic to many more locations around the globe, only for Reacher’s American adventures to profoundly outdo the action thriller in every department. The stakes of Reacher’s standalone stories are clearer, the character’s “Me against the world” attitude is more compelling than Ryan’s fidelity to the CIA, and supporting characters like Maria Sten’s Neagley are more memorable than the rotating carousel of forgettable A-list stars from Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. When Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan began in 2018, it was not yet clear what it took for a big-budget streaming series to succeed. With its starry cast and ambitious scope, the adaptation paved the way for later Prime Video shows like Scarpetta. However, while Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan was busy spending its big budget, the more straightforward and satisfying Reacher became the best action thriller of the decade right under its nose. Release Date February 3, 2022 Network Prime Video Showrunner Nick Santora Cast Maria Sten Frances Neagley Directors Omar Madha, Carol Banker, Julian Holmes, Lin Oeding, M.J. Bassett, Norberto Barba, Stephen Surjik, Thomas Vincent Writers Cait Duffy Franchise(s) Jack Reacher Creator(s) Nick Santora