Shows Like
Shows Like Reacher: Ten Action Thrillers With Competent Leads
By Jordan A. · · Updated · 5 min read
Reacher works because it never pretends to be more than it is. A very large man arrives somewhere, notices what everyone else missed, and resolves the situation with arithmetic and violence in roughly that order. No agonising, no arc, no season-long identity crisis.
So the test here isn't "action show". It's whether the lead is competent in a way the plot respects, and whether the show is honest about being pulp. Eleven picks, each with what it shares with Reacher, where it differs, who it's for, and the platform and season count so you know what you're signing up for.
If you want the closest thing
Neagley is the literal answer, and it lands next week. The Reacher spinoff hands the lead to Maria Sten as Frances Neagley, now a private investigator in Chicago chasing justice for a friend killed in a suspicious accident. All eight episodes drop at once on September 16, 2026, and Alan Ritchson guest stars as Reacher.
Prime Video, dated for September 16, 2026, eight episodes released at once, per Amazon MGM Studios' own announcement.
Who it's for: anyone who wants the same universe with a lead who solves problems by being faster rather than bigger.
The Terminal List is Prime Video's other tough-guy franchise, following a Navy SEAL hunting the people who set up his platoon. It's grimmer than Reacher and takes itself far more seriously, which is either the appeal or the dealbreaker.
Prime Video, first season of eight episodes in July 2022, a second season dated for October 21, 2026.
Who it's for: viewers who want the revenge structure without the wisecracks.
Detectives who won't be managed
Bosch is the best show on this list and the least explosive. Harry Bosch works homicide in Los Angeles, ignores his chain of command, and the cases are actually plotted rather than decorative. Seven seasons is a lot of good television.
Prime Video, February 2015 to June 2021, seven seasons, 68 episodes.
Who it's for: people who like Reacher's methodical side more than its fights. The difference is significant: Bosch is a procedural, not a thriller.
Justified gives you Raylan Givens, a US Marshal in eastern Kentucky with a hat, a quick draw and a bad relationship with authority. Elmore Leonard's dialogue survives the adaptation intact, which is rare.
FX, March 2010 to April 2015, six seasons.
Who it's for: anyone who wants the same self-assurance with much better writing around it.
The Old Man is Jeff Bridges as a former CIA operative dragged out of hiding, and it makes competence look expensive and painful rather than cool. Two seasons and it's finished.
FX, June 2022 to October 2024, two seasons.
Who it's for: viewers who want the lone-operative setup at a slower, sadder tempo.
Pulp that commits
Banshee is the closest match in spirit to Reacher's willingness to be ridiculous. An ex-convict assumes the identity of a murdered sheriff in a small Pennsylvania town and starts enforcing the law he's actively breaking. The fight choreography is brutal and the plotting is unhinged.
Cinemax, January 2013 to May 2016, four seasons.
Who it's for: anyone who wants Reacher with the restraint removed. It is much more violent and much less family-friendly.
Warrior is based on an unused screenplay by Bruce Lee, set among the tongs of 1870s San Francisco. The martial arts are the draw, but the corrupt-city politics underneath are what make it worth three seasons.
premiered April 2019 on Cinemax, ran three seasons to August 2023, later on HBO Max.
Who it's for: people who want a period setting and choreography rather than gunplay.
Strike Back is the pure engine of the genre: a two-man special forces team, a mission an episode, and no interest whatsoever in interiority. It ran for a decade.
Cinemax, May 2010 to April 2020.
Who it's for: viewers who want volume. There is a great deal of it and none of it requires attention.
Conspiracies with a competent lead
The Night Agent is the most efficient thriller currently running: a low-level FBI agent answers a phone that never rings, and then it rings. Ten episodes a season, one conspiracy, no loose ends left dangling for two years.
Netflix, premiered March 2023, three seasons so far, the third in February 2026.
Who it's for: anyone who wants Reacher's pace with a Washington plot instead of a small-town one.
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan keeps the analytical side and adds the CIA. John Krasinski plays Ryan as a desk analyst who keeps ending up in the field, and the show is at its best when he's reading a document rather than firing a weapon.
Prime Video, premiered August 2018, four seasons.
Who it's for: people who want geopolitics attached to the action.
Taken is worth clearing up because it gets described wrong constantly. NBC's series is a prequel about a young Bryan Mills, and it premiered in February 2017, nine years after the 2008 film, not before it. Two seasons and out.
NBC, February 2017 to June 2018, two seasons.
Who it's for: completists. It's the weakest thing on this list and it's still watchable.
Where these stream
The Prime Video titles are stable. The Cinemax shows in particular have moved homes more than once since they aired. Where each streams changes, so the title page on BingeNext shows current US options.
Start here
If you want more Reacher specifically, Neagley. If you want the best-written show here, Justified. If you want a long, satisfying case-driven run, Bosch. If you want to be entertained and slightly appalled, Banshee. If you have one weekend, The Night Agent.
Once you've worked through the obvious ones, the next tier gets hard to find, because every service labels its whole action shelf the same way. BingeNext's TV mode starts from titles instead: enter Reacher plus two others you liked, and it returns picks with a reason for each and where they stream, in about a minute.
Topics covered: action, thriller, crime, mystery, drama, prime-video
About the author
Jordan A., Founder, BingeNext
Jordan A. is the founder of BingeNext and is responsible for every guide published on this site. He built the recommendation engine after one too many nights lost to the streaming menu. Dates, season counts and where-to-watch details in these guides are checked against official sources before publishing, and corrections are welcome at Jordan@Bingenext.com.