Entertainment
‘Bosch’ and ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’s Reunion Just Set Up the Perfect Franchise Crossover
Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Lincoln Lawyer Season 4 finale.
Author Michael Connelly recently delivered a blockbuster announcement in the form of a new Harry Bosch novel coming this November. The Hollow will feature a crossover that includes The Lincoln Lawyer‘s Mickey Haller, given that both characters exist in a shared universe. In other words, Connelly just handed Prime Video and Netflix the ultimate franchise crossover between Bosch and The Lincoln Lawyer. Unfortunately, legal rights and ownership issues make the possibility of Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller sharing the screen a little more complicated.
What’s the Connection Between ‘Bosch’ and ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’?
In Connelly’s books, Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller are related as biological half-brothers, sharing the same father, J. Michael “Mickey” Haller Sr. Bosch was the product of an affair between Haller Sr. and Bosch’s mother, Marjorie Phillips Lowe. Haller Jr. eventually learns his familial connection to Detective Bosch in the 2008 book, The Brass Verdict, the second book to feature Haller following The Lincoln Lawyer in 2005.
The Brass Verdict features Bosch and Haller teaming up to solve a Hollywood lawyer’s murder, where Haller eventually learns that Bosch is his older half-brother. Meanwhile, Bosch already knows about Mickey’s existence and their shared relationship with Haller Sr. Unfortunately, they were unable to have a relationship in the past, as Bosch was placed in the foster care system after his mother was murdered. Bosch and Haller, both based in Los Angeles, have been crossing over in Connelly’s books for years.
A Crossover Between ‘Bosch’ and ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Is More Complicated Than You Think
Both Prime Video’s Bosch and Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer have already adapted storylines where their respective protagonists cross over in the source material. However, since Amazon owns the rights to Bosch, and Netflix controls the streaming rights for Lincoln Lawyer, the shows have worked around this legal hurdle by replacing Bosch and Mickey with other characters. Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer adapted the plot of The Brass Verdict, but included Detective Griggs (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine) as a replacement for Harry Bosch. Meanwhile, Bosch: Legacy Season 2 adapted Connelly’s book, The Crossing, which also features Mickey Haller, but used Honey Chandler (Mimi Rogers) as Haller’s stand-in.
‘The Lincoln Lawyer’s Fate Has Been Sentenced at Netflix
Production is set to begin sooner than you may think.
Recently, The Lincoln Lawyer did confirm that Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) indeed has a long-lost sibling in the show’s Season 4 finale, but it’s not Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver); instead, “The Law of Innocence” reveals Allison (Cobie Smulders) as Mickey’s long-lost sister. The Lincoln Lawyer Season 5, which will adapt the book Resurrection Walk, appears to be using Smulders’s Allison as the show’s latest Bosch stand-in, given that Resurrection Walk is another Mickey Haller novel where Bosch appears.
What’s Preventing a Crossover Between ‘Bosch’ and ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’?
Unfortunately, Netflix’s and Amazon’s respective ownership of Bosch and The Lincoln Lawyer make a potential onscreen adaptation of The Hollow highly improbable. Bosch and its spin-offs are co-produced and owned by Amazon MGM Studios, and they stream on Amazon’s Prime Video. Meanwhile, The Lincoln Lawyer is co-produced by A+E Studios and David E. Kelley, and the series streams on Netflix, so Netflix owns and controls the streaming rights for the hit legal series.
However, in an October 2024 interview with TV Insider, The Lincoln Lawyer co-showrunner Ted Humphrey didn’t completely rule out the possibility of a future crossover, but he did point out that it would take Netflix and Amazon figuring out a way for it to happen: “Unless they figure out some way for Netflix and Amazon to join forces… I guess you’d never say never, but at the moment it would seem impossible, yes.”
Considering the streaming competitors’ involvement in the television versions of Connelly’s literary characters, the likelihood of these two streaming giants striking a deal to allow a major crossover event appears close to nil, but the idea is not necessarily unprecedented. Disney-owned Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures did reach a deal over the Sony-owned Spider-Man movie franchise, which allowed Tom Holland‘s Spidey to appear in the MCU starting with Captain America: Civil War. Despite Connelly’s new book announcement keeping the idea fresh and ever-present in fans’ minds, the idea of an MCU-style crossover between Bosch and The Lincoln Lawyer still remains a fun scenario for viewers to consider.