This action spinoff has serious shades of The Night Agent and Reacher, and is wisely switching up genres for its upcoming second season. With not one but two seasons of Reacher landing in 2026, Prime Video’s franchise is showing no signs of audience fatigue. The fourth season adapts the Lee Child Jack Reacher novel Gone Tomorrow, while the show’s first spinoff Neagley lands on Prime in September.
Pretty much every new action series since 2022 has tried to copy Reacher’s blueprint. This includes Netflix’s The Night Agent, and while its lead character, Peter (Gabriel Basso), is a good deal more grounded and, well, human than Alan Ritchson’s Reacher, the two thrillers share some clear DNA. They’re both based on books and follow heroes whose code of ethics won’t allow them to walk away from a mission.
Another show in that vein is Paris Has Fallen, the TV spinoff of Gerard Butler’s Has Fallen movie franchise. Butler’s Secret Service agent Banning is nowhere to be found in this offshoot, which instead follows an MI6 agent (played by Ritu Arya) and a Protection Service bodyguard (Tewfik Jallab) as they race around the French capital trying to stop Sean Harris’ terrorist.
Paris Has Fallen Is So Much Better Than The Movie Series
Paris Has Fallen is the rare example of a spinoff comfortably besting its source material. The Butler movies are, at their best, enjoyable, meatheaded action flicks, but they suffer from bizarrely poor CGI and over-edited action. The show and the movies are two separate entities though so newcomers don’t need any prior knowledge to enjoy it.
Ritu Arya was most recently seen in the Riz Ahmed series Bait.
Like The Night Agent, it’s something of a buddy show, where two mismatched partners learn to work together whilst uncovering a dark political conspiracy. If you’re expecting a bog-standard procedural you’re out of luck, since Paris Has Fallen has regular shootouts, chases and explosions to remind people that, yes, it’s still part of the Has Fallen universe.
The series sits at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is almost unheard of for a spinoff to a popular film saga. A key part of its success is that it has an engrossing plot and a fantastic villain in Harris’ vengeful terrorist, who is easily the most compelling character in Paris Has Fallen. It also wins points for its more realistic setpieces, which, unlike the movies, don’t feel the need to flood the screen with CG explosions or debris.
Apollo Has Fallen Looks Like A Totally Different Show
Paris Has Fallen’s action could stand up next to Reacher’s easily, and it turns out the series is taking inspiration from Prime Video’s most thriller in another area. Season two is dubbed Apollo Has Fallen, and the trailer makes it clear the show has hopped genres entirely. If season one was a race-against-time thriller, the next entry will be a globe-hopping action show.
If anything, it resembles Cinemax classic Strike Back more than Paris Has Fallen. This was a wise move to keep things fresh, though whether the reviews will be as strong is another matter. Fans of the property might be lamenting the absence of Butler, who was once set to return for another sequel dubbed Night Has Fallen. Butler is still involved with the show as producer, but it’s unlikely he will be making any guest appearances as Banning.
Still, Paris Has Fallen proved the franchise could survive the transition to the small screen; more than survive, actually, since it was a genuine improvement. Apollo Has Fallen is looking promising thus far, so the odds of it running for at least another season or two are fair. Perhaps a third season could tie the movies and TV universe together a little more, such as guest appearances from familiar faces like Aaron Eckhart or Morgan Freeman.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
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Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt
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Olympus Has Fallen
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Angel Has Fallen
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Night Has Fallen
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Paris Has Fallen
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Paris Has Fallen
The Has Fallen franchise is an American action thriller series centered around Secret Service agent Mike Banning, portrayed by Gerard Butler. The narrative follows Banning as he protects U.S. presidents from various threats, showcasing intense action sequences and political intrigue.
