31 best web series on Amazon Prime Video that will keep you hooked (2024)

Have an Amazon Prime Video subscription? If yes, then here's a list of the best web series on Amazon Prime Video that can add to your watchlist. The streamer has emerged as a top destination for many top web series that will keep you hooked to the screen for hours. While Netflix continues to pump out new titles every week, Amazon Prime Video's vast catalog includes many hidden gems that deserve to be on your watchlist.

1. Jack Ryan

There's no shortage of screen adaptations of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan books, but John Krasinski's turn as the CIA desk jockey turned field agent gets far more room to breathe than its predecessors. The prestige political thriller charts Ryan's rise from analyst to operative—and beyond—over four perfectly crafted seasons. The recently released final season caps Ryan's career with his biggest challenge yet: investigating the convergence of a drug cartel and a terrorist organization set to create an unstoppable criminal enterprise, all while juggling the CIA's possible involvement in a political assassination in Nigeria. While the show hasn't been without controversies—season two attracted condemnation from Venezuela's government for supposedly condoning a US invasion of the country—its sharp writing, incredible performances, and cinematic action make it compelling viewing.

2. Good Omens 2

Michael Sheen and David Tennant returned as Aziraphale and demon Crowley, respectively, after four long years and quickly won over the audience. When the archangel Gabriel, played by Jon Hamm, goes missing from Heaven only to show up amnesiac and naked at Aziraphale’s bookshop in London, a battle between 'upstairs' and 'downstairs' ensues. Gabriel’s half-remembered warnings of an impending catastrophe frame the season, but the exploration of the central duo’s past is the real highlight. With plenty of flashbacks showing more of Aziraphale and Crowley’s history, and a bit of fan service playing to the nature of their millennia-long relationship, Sheen and Tennant’s chemistry shines so bright it dazzles.

3. I'm a Virgo

A surrealist comedy with the sharp political and social edge viewers have come to expect from creator and director Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You), I’m a Virgo follows Cootie (Jharrel Jerome), a regular 19-year-old who just happens to be 13 feet tall. Raised in secrecy by Aunt Lafrancine (Carmen Ejogo) and Uncle Martisse (Mike Epps), Cootie is thrust into the limelight when his larger-than-life existence is inevitably discovered. Experiencing friendships and the outside world for the first time, gentle giant Cootie has to navigate everything from romance to the public’s reaction to a giant Black man wandering around Oakland. Oh, and did we mention Cootie’s idol, The Hero, a real-life superhero with an authoritarian streak that would put some of the worst offenders on The Boys to shame? Told you this was surreal. Do yourself a favor and watch the behind-the-scenes episodes too, tucked under Prime Video’s “Explore” tab, for Riley’s insight into each episode.

4. Carnival Row

Carnival Row is a thrilling fantasy series that follows a human police inspector Rycroft 'Philo' Philostrate (Orlando Bloom) and his former fae lover, Vignette 'Vini' Stonemoss (Cara Delevingne), who work together to solve a series of murders in The Burgue. In the second season, the tension between the oppressed fae and their oppressors continues to rise, causing Philo and Vini to end up on opposite sides of the conflict. With its quasi-Victoriana aesthetic and a preference for ornate character makeup and prosthetics, Carnival Row is also one of the most distinctive-looking series in recent years—just make sure your TV can handle deep, dark contrast levels, as it’s also one of the most literally dark shows.

5. The Power

You know how it is with teenagers. They feel a tingle, then suddenly sparks are flying—but this isn’t about first loves or misdirected crushes, but a rather more literal electricity, as young women around the world awaken to the power to generate and discharge lightning. Soon, it proves to be a gender-wide ability, with women old and young gaining The Power, a shift that soon changes social dynamics and power structures on a global scale. With a powerhouse cast fronted by Toni Collette as Seattle mayor Margot Cleary-Lopez, andTed Lasso’s Toheeb Jimoh as Tunde Ojo, a photojournalist documenting the situation as it unfolds,The Power explores the seismic shift of such a change playing out everywhere from the US to Nigeria.

6. Daisy Jones & the Six

Spanning a decade,Daisy Jones & the Six follows the formation, stratospheric success, and crushing breakup of the greatest band the 1970s never saw. In the late ’60s, talented but listless ingenue Daisy (Riley Keough) meets aspiring rocker Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin) and his group, eventually joining the band herself. Soon, her soulful vocals and insightful songwriting help propel The Six to the top of the charts—but at the height of their careers, everything comes tumbling down, undone by years of wandering hearts, illicit sex, battles with sobriety, and the rigors of rock ‘n’ roll. If it all sounds a bit Fleetwood Mac, that should come as no surprise—the author of the book the series is based on, Taylor Jenkins Reid, has said the legendary folk-rock band was an inspiration. Yet with its fantastic cast, period-perfect tone, and phenomenal soundtrack—released as the albumAurora by the series’ eponymous band—Daisy Jones & the Six takes on a life of its own.

7. The Legend of Vox Machina

Bawdy, gory, and absolutely not for kids,The Legend of Vox Machina began life as the hitCritical Role, in which a group of the biggest English-language voice actors in animation and gaming livestreamed theirDungeons & Dragons sessions before it evolved into its own beast. In the first season of this exquisitely animated fantasy, the show follows the eponymous Vox Machina guild—a motley crew of usually drunk adventurers consisting of gunslingers, druids, and the requisite horny bard—as they battle to reclaim the city of Whitestone from the monstrous Lord and Lady Briarwood. The recently added second season ups the ante with “the worst team ever assembled” fighting four apocalyptically powerful dragons. Fully accessible to long-time fans of the source material and newcomers alike, this series manages to be a love letter toD&D while poking plenty of fun at the classic RPG and transcending its origins to become one of the most original adult animated shows on Amazon.

8. The Rig

Supernatural thrillerThe Rig doesn’t even aspire to subtlety when it comes to ecological metaphors. In fact, they’re often downright clumsy, as when one character says “if you keep punching holes in the earth, eventually the earth’s going to punch back.” But if you can look past such clunkiness, this is an engaging piece of television. When the crew of the isolated Kinloch Bravo oil rig is cut off from civilization by a strange fog, the inexplicable deaths and equipment failures soon make it clear that this is no mere weather pattern. And as the tension and fear mount, being trapped in a glorified tin can in the North Sea drives the survivors to paranoid extremes. It’s all brilliantly shot to make use of both the claustrophobic setting and the terrifying expanse of ocean around it, and the material is elevated by a phenomenal cast ofGame of Thrones andLine of Duty veterans, makingThe Rig more than the guilty pleasure it might otherwise be.

9. Tales From the Loop

Despite being a couple of years old,Tales From the Loop remains one of the most mesmerizing shows on Prime Video. Loosely based on the work of Swedish artistSimon Stålenhag, the series blurs the line between ongoing narrative and anthology as it follows the residents of Mercer, Ohio, exploring how their intersecting lives are impacted by “the Loop,” an underground facility exploring experimental physics and making the impossible possible. Expect tales of frozen time, traded lives, and parallel worlds, all brought to life by a fantastic cast and directors—including Andrew Stanton and Jodie Foster. But it’s the visuals that really elevate this show, which captures the sublime aesthetic of Stålenhag’s work and juxtaposes neofuturism and rural communities for a world that looks and feels like almost nothing else. At only eight episodes, a visit to Mercer is brief but unforgettable.

10. The Devil’s Hour

When Peter Capaldi, here playing mysterious criminal Gideon Shepherd, says “my perception of time is better than anyone’s,” it’s clear thatThe Devil’s Hour creator Tom Moran is having a little fourth-wall-breaking fun with his former Time Lord leading man. That’s about as close as this gritty six-part drama gets toDoctor Who, though. Instead, this is a mix of murder mystery and thriller, topped off with a dash of the supernatural. The focus is on Lucy (Jessica Raine), an over-burdened social worker with an increasingly distant and troubled young son. Lucy wakes at exactly 3:33 am every morning, plagued by horrific visions, and her nightmares draw her into the orbit of police detective Ravi Dhillon’s (Nikesh Patel) investigations of a bloody murder and a child’s abduction. As she tries to figure out how the two are entangled, Lucy comes face to face with Shepherd. Raine is a phenomenally commanding lead throughout, while Capaldi's sinister performance is one of the most chilling you’ll see on screen.

11. Them

This horror anthology series, created by Little Marvin and executive-produced by Queen & Slim’s Lena Waithe, sets its first season in 1950s Los Angeles and follows the Emory family as they move into an all-white neighborhood. It all goes about as well as you might expect, with Livia (Deborah Ayorinde) soon penned into their new home by the Stepford-like housewives of the area who make her life a living hell, led by ringleader Betty (Alison Pill). Outside the home, husband Henry (Ashley Thomas) faces physical assaults and harassment at work. Ayorinde and Thomas are phenomenal throughout, brilliantly portraying the mental, physical, and emotional turmoil of living under relentless threat. While the show’s portrayal of the period is tense and horrifying in its own right, the layering of some truly unsettling supernatural threats make this a frequently terrifying watch.

12. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is not only one of the best web series on Amazon Prime Video but also one of the most expensive dramas ever produced by the streaming service. It is set in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, millennia before the events of the film series, and focuses on the rise of Dark Lord Sauron, the fall of Númenor, and the history of the forging of the Rings of Power.

13. The Boys

Superheroes are meant to represent hope and optimism—the best of us, given outsize form. In The Boys, adapted from the darkly satirical comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, they’re a reflection of humanity’s worst—greed and unrestrained power marketed to a gullible public by vested corporate interests, operating without restraint and leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. Enter Billy Butcher and his “associates,” gleefully dispatching “Supes” who’ve gone too far, often in extraordinarily violent ways. In the newly dropped third season, the team is forced to go legit and work for the US government while struggling to topple the sad*stic, psychotic Homelander, leader of The Seven—the world’s premier superheroes, brought to you by Vought International. To complicate matters, Butcher is wrestling with becoming the thing he hates most: a Supe. Possibly Amazon’s goriest show, The Boys stands as a pertinent examination of the abuses of power, all wrapped in superhero drag.

14. The Wheel of Time

An adaptation of Robert Jordan's sprawling novel series, The Wheel of Time follows Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), a powerful weaver of an ancient form of magic, who assembles a group of young people, of which one unknown man or woman is destined to either save the world or destroy it. As the show progresses, the audience is introduced to a whole new fantasy world filled with magic and wonder.

15. Invincible

When Mark Grayson inherits the incredible powers of his father, Omni-Man, he determines to follow in his footsteps as the costumed superhero Invincible. Unfortunately, his coming-of-age journey is marred by a shocking twist that shakes his entire world—both personally and on the global political stage. A brilliantly animated adaptation of the hit Image comic book by writer Robert Kirkman and artists Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley, Invincible offers a more mature look at the impact super-powered beings would have on society. And while it starts with a nod to classic teen superhero tropes, it ultimately does something Marvel and DC characters rarely do: grow up.

16. The Underground Railroad

Based on the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel by Colson Whitehead, this limited series from Moonlight director Barry Jenkins sticks pretty closely to the premise of the book. It’s a work of historical fiction that takes the idea of the Underground Railroad—the network of smugglers who helped escaped slaves flee the South—and reimagines it as an actual subway system with trains and secretive station agents.

17. Fleabag

You’re not supposed to like Fleabag. She’s selfish, self-destructive, and morally bankrupt. Her family is loathsome, her lifestyle is ridiculous, and her job is a joke. Yet after watching this 12-episode series, we defy you not to love her a little. This magnificent sitcom about a Londoner (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) grappling with the death of her best friend has no filter: You’ll hear her thoughts on feminism, familial tension, love, and sodomy. The first time Waller-Bridge interrupts her own dialog to shoot a disarming, conspiratorial glance to the screen, you’re hooked. Season one is a smutty yet wonderful crescendo of self-destruction driven by a cast of characters that includes Fleabag’s intensely awkward sister Claire (Sian Clifford), her selfish and pretentious stepmother (Olivia Colman), and her clueless father (Bill Paterson). The second season cheerfully bounds into blasphemy as she grapples with inappropriate (and reciprocated) feelings for a Catholic priest (Andrew Scott). It’s shocking and immensely watchable—and one of the rare cases when a series truly is as good as people say.

18. The Man in the High Castle

The Man in the High Castle is a science fiction series loosely based on Philip K. Dick's novel. The show explores the idea of what the world might have looked like had the Nazis won the Second World War. As the story progresses, the drama shifts focus to a young woman who discovers a film that holds the key to freedom.

19. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

What is a New York lady to do when she finds out her husband is having an affair with his dim-witted secretary? If Mrs. Maisel is anything to go by, the answer is to head to a dingy watering hole in your nightgown, do a little standup comedy, and get hauled away by the police after flashing the entire audience. Set in the 1950s, this fast-talking fashionista hides her new life as a comedian from her family and ex while battling sexism, bad crowds, and big competition. Rachel Brosnahan stars as Midge Maisel in this subtle nod to Joan Rivers’ career. With four seasons and a host of awards and nominations to its name, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is one of Amazon’s sharpest comedies.

20. The Expanse

Humanity now lives among the stars—well, the rest of the solar system, at least. A group of antiheroes are linked by the disappearance of a wealthy political activist, and between them they must unravel what happened to her. Adding to the complexity are the political tensions between Earth, Mars, and the Belt, a group of loosely affiliated colonies between the two planets. That’s just season one—there are six available on Prime, and each is packed with enough daring missions, space fights, and Martian politics to keep fans of hard science fiction hooked.

21. Good Omens

Feeling battered and emotionally bruised by bleak TV dystopias and even bleaker world news? Good Omens is your shelter in the storm, and inside it’s cozy, camp, and kind. Neil Gaiman has adapted his own 1990 book, cowritten with Terry Pratchett, which follows an angel (Michael Sheen) and a demon (David Tennant) as they try to stop Armageddon. The six-part event series gives fans exactly what they dreamed of from such a team. Silly stuff with Cold War overtones, extreme whimsy, and gruff British wit.

22. Forever

You’ll know within the first episode whether you’re into this slow, a stylized miniseries from Parks & Recreation and Master of None alums Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard. It’s part high-concept TV and part uncomfortable marriage drama, with a side helping of shtick from the two outrageously talented leads, Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen. It might make you impatient at times, but Forever will stick with you if you hang on until the finale.

23. Sneaky Pete

Just released from prison, Marius (Giovanni Ribisi) steals the identity of former cellmate Pete Murphy in order to hide from the dangers of his old life. On the run from a vicious debtor played by Bryan Cranston (who also jointly created the show), Marius nestles in with Pete’s motley crew of estranged family, who are delighted to be reunited with their long-lost relative–and enters waters just as shark-infested as those from which he’s come. Over the course of three seasons, Sneaky Pete proves itself one of the finest dramas Amazon has produced yet.

24. Mozart in the Jungle

A comedy-drama documenting the world of professional orchestra musicians in New York, Mozart in the Jungle is a strange beast. The series follows Hailey Rutledge (Lola Kirke), an aspiring oboist trying to build a career with the New York Symphony, and her conflicted relationship with eccentric conductor Rodrigo De Souza (Gael García Bernal). With a strong creative team and real-world source material in the form of professional oboist Blair Tindall’s memoir Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music, the compelling and frequently hilarious show has picked up Golden Globes and Emmy Awards and proven itself one of Amazon’s best exclusives.

25. Red Oaks

In the mid-’80s, college student and struggling filmmaker David Myers (Craig Roberts) wants one last, great summer before facing adulthood. Unfortunately, he’s stuck working at a pretentious country club and struggling to gain momentum in his life. Big dreams of making it in the film industry meet crushing reality as David navigates the demands of the club’s eccentric guests—from taking awkward wedding shoots to filming sex tapes for swingers clubs—while also struggling to maintain his relationship with girlfriend Skye. All three seasons of this delightful period comedy are available now.

26. Vikings

Created and written by Michael Hirst, Vikings tells the tale of real-life Viking hero Ragnar Lodbrok. The series delves into the history of the Vikings, who carried out several triumphant raids into English territory. The phenomenal success of the show led to a sequel series titled Vikings: Valhalla, which is currently available on Netflix.

27. Lore

Entertaining well past Halloween, this anthology series presents “the frightening and often disturbing tales based on real people and events that have led to our modern-day myths and legends.” Based on the award-winning podcast of the same name, it offers two six-episode seasons of real-world horror stories guaranteed to chill your bones.

28. Gen V

A spin-off series of The Boys, Gen V follows the next generation of superheroes, who train and test their moral, physical, and sexual boundaries at the Godolkin University School of Crimefighting, founded by Thomas Godolkin. However, the school's dark secrets are exposed, and these young superheroes must decide what type of heroes they want to be.

29. Reacher

Alan Ritchson plays the title role in Reacher — one of the best web series on Amazon Prime Video. The actioner follows a former Military Police Officer who travels from one town to another in search of peace. Unfortunately, things get complicated when he is arrested for a murder he did not commit. Watch him evade the corrupt cops in the city, and track down the real culprit in an attempt to solve the case and prove his innocence. The second season introduces his old military team who reunite to unravel the secrets related to the mysterious death of their team member. The series is an adaptation of Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels.

30. Bosch

The compelling and grimy police procedural drama revolves around LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver) who investigates big complicated cases. The pace at which the drama unfolds makes this thriller a binge-worthy title for all those who love the crime thriller genre. Additionally, the makers have already announced two more spin-off sequels.

31. Mr. and Mrs. Smith

The title of this Amazon Prime Video would remind you of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's 2005 movie, however, this drama manages to delve deeper into the personal lives of undercover agents. It goes as deep as why they opted to become a part of the undercover program, and if their growing feelings for each other are true or just a part of their mission. Donald Glover, who has created the show with Francesca Sloane, plays the lead role along with Maya Erskine in Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

First published on wired.co.uk