There’s a certain kind of horror film you grow up with and never quite let go of — the ones with fog creeping over papier-mâché gravestones, with monsters who look confused about being alive in the first place. The old Universal cycle, the late-night AMC marathons, the days when your local channel would air The Bride of Frankenstein right after reruns of Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Tim Burton must have inhaled that stuff straight into his lungs, because when he started making his own films, you could feel all those classic shadows flickering behind him like someone holding a flashlight to an old bedroom wall.

And if you watched enough Tales from the Darkside or those early X-Files creature features where the monster wasn’t the villain so much as the problem nobody wanted to look at, Edward Scissorhands hits you like a memory you forgot you owned. What it really has is that same nervous, tender feeling you get from The Elephant Man — the way the film sits with someone who doesn’t fit and doesn’t apologize for it. Burton throws that sensibility into a suburb so bright it almost buzzes, and the whole place suddenly feels a little off, like the smile doesn’t match the eyes. Frankenstein author Mary Shelley would’ve cracked a smile.

The Monster on the Hill Was Never the Scariest Part

People forget this now, but there was a moment in the early ‘90s when Edward Scissorhands felt almost too gentle to be grouped in with horror-adjacent films. But if you peel back the candy colors and the Aqua Net haze, the Frankenstein bones are right there. The castle is a repurposed laboratory, the inventor is a kind of lonely father playing god with trembling hands, and Edward… well, Edward is the most sympathetic monster the genre’s seen since Boris Karloff’s creature opened his eyes for the first time.

What separates Burton’s version from the usual “man creates creature, regrets it” loop is that Edward isn’t wrong or dangerous or flawed — he’s unfinished. That’s a different kind of ache. Most Frankenstein stories hinge on hubris; this one hinges on opportunity stolen. The tragedy isn’t that he exists, it’s that he never gets to exist fully. And adding to the bittersweet nature of the film is horror legend Vincent Price, giving his last performance as Edward’s creator with the kind of gentle sadness that makes the whole film feel like a farewell wrapped in lace.

And when Edward walks into the town below, scissors held like a boy afraid to touch anything, he becomes the thing every Frankenstein creature becomes: a mirror. The neighbors project their fantasies, then their fears. They invent sins he never commits, then punish him for them. The real horror in Edward Scissorhands is the suburbia that smiles warmly until it decides it needs someone to bleed.

‘Frankenweenie’s Earnest Little Heartbeat

Image Via Disney

But Burton didn’t arrive at Edward out of nowhere. Long before the hair gel and the black-and-white striped suits, he made a little short called Frankenweenie. A kid resurrecting his dog Sparky sounds cute on paper, but the short has that unmistakable Burton grief around its edges — the kind that comes from a person who knows what it’s like to love something fragile and fear the world won’t play fair.

The short is practically a handwritten thank-you note to the original Frankenstein. You still get the lightning in the attic, and the little stitched-together creature who only wants to curl back up where he belonged, and the neighbors freak out right on cue the second anything looks unfamiliar. But underneath all the gags and the obvious callbacks, there’s this unexpectedly raw pulse to it — like Burton wasn’t making a homage so much as sorting through something he didn’t have language for yet.

Related

One of Shelley Duvall’s Best Performances Was in This Horrifically Delightful Tim Burton Movie

Duvall is a loving and open-minded mother in Burton’s 1984 short film.

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The short’s clunky in spots, but the honesty keeps poking through anyway. Sparky never reads like a monster; he’s just a dog who got one more shot, and that small, almost ordinary truth hits harder than any of the visual tricks. Watching it now, you can feel Burton fumbling toward the thing he’d chase for years afterward: not the horror, not the spoof, but the soft, tired little heartbreak that sits inside anything we insist on calling a “monster.”

When Burton circled back to Frankenweenie years later, the stop-motion version didn’t feel like some grand artistic declaration — it felt like a guy finally admitting he’d been carrying something around for a long time and needed to get it out of his system. The feature-length Frankenweenie doesn’t feel “bigger” so much as it feels like Burton had more room to wander around the same wound he’d poked at in the short. There’s no big stylistic ta-da. It just settles into this quieter, tired sort of grief. Victor isn’t playing junior inventor anymore; he looks more like a kid who hasn’t figured out how to live with the empty space a pet leaves behind, so he does the one thing that makes sense to him, even if it’s absolutely the thing adults warn you not to touch.

‘Edward Scissorhands’ Is the Most Human Monster Tim Burton Ever Built

Edward Scissorhands is Burton’s masterpiece for a reason. He’s a Frankenstein creature who feels like he was assembled from empathy instead of sinew. His scissors — sharp, delicate, impractical — are a metaphor disguised as limbs. The hands he should’ve had are the life he never got to touch. When he trims hedges or ice sculptures, it isn’t spectacle, it’s a silent wish for connection.

The town never really gets a chance to understand him — not with all those pastel walls and stiff little routines they cling to like talismans. One minute they’re delighted by what he can do for them, the next they’re spooked by a drop of blood or a gesture they decide looks “wrong,” and from there it’s a straight slide into judgment. The ending lands the way all great monster stories land — not with justice, but with distance. Edward returns to the shadows, creating beauty for a world that only wants it as long as it doesn’t come with strings. It’s the classic Frankenstein ending dressed in Burton’s melancholy: the monster didn’t hurt the world, the world hurt him.

Tim Burton may be known for his stripes and spirals and all that candy-coated goth whimsy, but his real legacy sits with these two films. Frankenweenie is the spark. Edward Scissorhands is a fully grown creature. And together they prove that the best Frankenstein stories aren’t about monsters at all — they’re about love, and the terrible, inevitable truth that creation comes with loss baked right into the blueprint.

Edward Scissorhands is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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Release Date

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December 14, 1990

Runtime

105 minutes

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Producers

Denise Di Novi

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Mark Ruffalo is MCU’s silent selfless king. The dude got no individual movie and yet we all know Hulk like the back of our hands. And the credit goes to the actor. The best Mark Ruffalo MCU performances hit in that exact sweet spot where Bruce Banner feels like the smartest person in the room and also the most emotionally scrambled. Ruffalo gives Bruce this nervous humanity, this constant internal negotiation, and then the Hulk side comes in with chaos, pride, fear, or raw pain and changes the temperature of the whole scene.

So this ranking is about where Ruffalo gets the most to play, not just big Hulk moments, but real Bruce material too. The strongest entries let him be funny, conflicted, awkward, wounded, and unexpectedly moving, amazingly human, and sometimes all of these in the same stretch of the movie. Ruffalo isn’t credited enough for the amazing work he did as Bruce Banner and it’s time we give him some credit for it.

5

‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ (2015)

Image via Marvel Studios

A lot of people remember Age of Ultron for the bigger chaos, but it’s a really solid Bruce Banner movie because Ruffalo gets to lean into Bruce’s discomfort in a team that’s starting to feel too comfortable with destruction. Bruce Banner is already carrying that quiet dread, the sense that every mission could become a situation where Hulk does damage nobody can cleanly justify later. Ruffalo plays that tension in his posture and timing, and it gives Bruce a nice emotional texture while everyone else is talking louder.

The Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) connection is where the movie gets more layered for him. Ruffalo plays Bruce like a man who wants closeness and still instinctively flinches from it, which fits the character’s whole life. Then the Hulkbuster fight turns that fear into spectacle, and it works because Bruce’s worst anxiety becomes visible to the entire world. By the end, his exit lands with sadness because you can feel how tired he is of being both the solution and the problem.

4

‘The Avengers’ (2012)

Image via Marvel Studios 

The Avengers is one of Ruffalo’s most lovable MCU performances because he walks into a giant ensemble and immediately gives Bruce a clear vibe: brilliant, wary, polite, and one bad day away from disaster. The Avengers had to reintroduce Banner and make audiences care fast, and Ruffalo nails that in minutes. The way he talks to Black Widow, the way he enters the helicarrier, the way he watches everyone else’s energy before joining in, you instantly get a Bruce who lives in self-monitoring mode.

And then the movie rewards that setup with one of the best character-payoff lines in the whole MCU. Ruffalo’s “I’m always angry” moment was epic. It makes you see how he played with so much contained tension before it. The transformation in the final battle feels triumphant and a little scary at the same time, which is exactly the right mix for Banner/Hulk. He also brings sneaky humor all over this movie, and that compounded in the later MCU installments as well. All in all, Ruffalo made Bruce feel like a real person inside the blockbuster machine.

3

‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018)

Image via Marvel Studios

What makes Ruffalo great in Infinity War is that the movie flips his usual Banner/Hulk dynamic and lets him play panic, embarrassment, and desperation in a really entertaining way. Bruce Banner arrives with catastrophic information, nobody has time, and he’s trying to get the team to understand the scale of what’s coming while also dealing with a Hulk who suddenly refuses to come out. That reversal gives Ruffalo a ton to work with. Bruce is used to fearing Hulk’s presence; here he’s terrified of Hulk’s absence.

It also makes the comedy sharper because the jokes grow out of a real character crisis. The Hulk “won’t perform” angle could have felt throwaway, but Ruffalo played Bruce’s frustration beautifully . His Wakanda material was especially fun too because he’s still fully committed to helping, even when he’s improvising with technology and pride on the line. The movie keeps him active, useful, and emotionally frazzled, which is generally a great Ruffalo zone.

2

‘Thor: Ragnarok’ (2017)

Image via Marvel Studios

Thor: Ragnarok showed the most different version of Hulk too — not just Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth). It gave him room to be weird, funny, and vulnerable without losing the Bruce/Hulk tension. Bruce Banner wakes up after being gone for a long time, and Ruffalo plays the disorientation beautifully, confused, chatty, anxious, and trying to piece together what Hulk has been doing with his life on Sakaar. It’s funny right away, but there’s also a genuine sadness underneath it because Bruce realizes time and control have slipped through his fingers again.

The movie let Ruffalo bounce off Hemsworth in a way that brings out a totally different rhythm in Bruce. Their chemistry is great because Thor is all momentum and Bruce is all internal noise. Then the story keeps pushing Bruce into situations where he has to choose whether to become Hulk again, knowing what that choice may cost him. Ruffalo makes those beats land with actual emotional weight. By the end, he feels both hilarious and deeply fragile, which is exactly what made him so watchable here.

1

‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019)

Image via Marvel Studios

This gets the top spot because Endgame finally lets Ruffalo play the result of years of conflict instead of just the conflict itself. Bruce Banner, at this point, had merged Banner and Hulk into Smart Hulk. While the performance could have been a gimmick, Ruffalo made it feel like a coping strategy, a breakthrough, and a slightly awkward new identity all at once. There’s confidence in him now, but it’s still Bruce’s confidence, gentle, nerdy, eager to be helpful, a little self-conscious in social situations even when he’s in a giant green body.

What pushes it to number one is the emotional layering in the middle and back half. The time-heist scenes let Ruffalo be funny in a fresh way, especially when Bruce has to confront older Hulk-era chaos. Then the snap aftermath gives him real weight. He’s the one who uses the gauntlet, and Ruffalo plays the cost like a man choosing pain because he can survive it better than the others. In Endgame, Hulk was not the loudest Avenger, but he felt essential at every step. He was steady, wounded, still fighting. It’s Ruffalo’s fullest MCU movie.

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Avengers: Endgame

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Release Date

April 26, 2019

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Runtime

181 Minutes

Writers

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Keith Giffen, Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, Jim Starlin, Joe Simon, Steve Englehart, Jack Kirby, Steve Gan, Bill Mantlo, Stephen McFeely, Christopher Markus

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• 

  Robert Downey Jr.

  Tony Stark / Iron Man

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  Chris Evans

  Steve Rogers / Captain America

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Katie Couric Speaks On Savannah Guthrie’s ‘Today’ Show Absence, Calling It ‘Tragically Unprecedented’

Couric Previously Sent Prayers And Support To Savannah And Her Family

Savannah Guthrie Increased The Reward For Her Mother’s Return To $1 Million, But Has Reportedly Decided To Leave Arizona

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department Has Limited Daily Updates As The Case Nears 1-Month Mark

When a big-name sci-fi movie like Predator: Badlands hits streaming, it’s safe to assume that it’s going to do reasonably well. It’s less easy to foresee when a movie will seemingly come out of nowhere and find streaming success, especially when it’s a movie from a first-time director. So it’s impressive that Archive, filmmaker Gavin Rothery’s debut feature film (with a solid 78 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), has managed to become one of the biggest streaming hits of the year so far.

According to JustWatch, Archive is currently number 71 on its streaming charts, which cover “4,500 streaming services” and are based on the number of users who are clicking links to watch a movie, adding it to their watchlists, or marking that they have seen it. So, in theory, that’s number 71 across all movies ever, and JustWatch puts it ahead of far-more-famous films like Black Phone 2, Scream 2, and The Revenant. JustWatch also says the sci-fi movie spent five days in the top 10 and has been in the top 100 for 24 days. It likely helps that Archive is easily accessible: It’s currently available to subscribers on Netflix and Prime Video, plus free with ads on The Roku Channel and YouTube.

‘Archive’ Is a Sci-Fi Thriller About AI Surpassing Humans

Set in the relatively near future, Archive follows a scientist, George (Theo James from The Monkey), whose wife (Stacy Martin from The Brutalist) is killed in a car accident. Thanks to not-at-all chilling advances in AI technology, her memory is able to be stored digitally and George is able to communicate with her for a set number of hours. Being a grieving husband, George refuses to accept that and starts building a robot that will be able to store the — ahem — archived version of his wife permanently.

It is, of course, not that easy. The movie ends up having to say about mourning and love and the way humans react to both, plus a look at the dystopian possibility of our thoughts and feelings becoming proprietary data controlled by tech companies. We don’t know what the fine print looks like on an Archive contract, but would it be worth getting another 200 hours with a deceased loved one if it means their life would be used to train an algorithm? That’s not explicitly what Archive is about, but science fiction is beginning to tackle a decreasingly hypothetical and increasingly possible future we might find ourselves in before too long.

What’s particularly impressive about Archive’s timeliness is that it was initially released in 2020, a ways before AI became one of the dominant talking points of general human existence. It predates the trend, rather than chasing it. Also, while this is Rothery’s debut directorial feature, he did conceptual design work on Duncan Jones’ Moon. That’s a solid bona fide for someone working in the sci-fi movie business.

Once again, Archive is available on Netflix, Prime Video, Roku, and YouTube.

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Release Date

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August 13, 2020

Runtime

109 minutes

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Director

Gavin Rothery

Producers

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Luc Roeg, Phil Hunt, Richard Goldberg, Compton Ross, James Atherton, Nate Bolotin, Jan Pace, Norman Merry, Peter Hampden, Trevor Beattie, Theo James, Cora Palfrey, Philip Herd, Sarah Lebutsch

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  Stacy Martin

  Jules Almore / J3 / J2 (voice)

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Candace Owens is accusing Erika Kirk and her mother, Lori Frantzve, of being social climbers.

Speaking on episode 2 of her docuseries, Bride of Charlie, which dropped on Thursday, February 26, Owens claimed Erika, 37, and Lori have long held ambitions of being famous.

The conservative podcast host, 36, suggested that Lori had often encouraged Erika to work the room, even before Erika married prominent right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. (Charlie was shot dead at Utah university campus on September 10, 2025.)

“What people have said to me is she is the person who has always been the person in Erika’s ear. She’s this type A person that tells her who to go after in each and every room. She knows who those people are, who Erika should instantly transform into, what she has to say,” Owens said in the episode.

She continued, “I mean, one of [Erika’s] exes was very clear. He said to me, ‘I was warned by another person in the beauty pageant world that that girl will do anything to get to the top and her mother will do anything to help her get to the top.”

Owens went on to claim that outsiders suspected that Lori has likely been “the person in her ear” but also suggested that Erika was a willing participant in this as she had similar goals.

“She wanted Erika to be famous. But let’s not remove Erika from this. Erika desperately wanted to be famous. No one can deny that,” Owens added.

Owens also referenced Erika’s past relationships, including JT Massey. Erika and Massey, her then-boyfriend, auditioned to compete on The Amazing Race together in 2014.

“Tomorrow when we now begin in earnest to go through Erika’s life, you will see she’s never dated a normal guy. She’s never dated a guy with a nine-to-five job,” Owens continued. “You can see, like, she was going to be with somebody. She was, ‘Okay, you’re going to the NFL. You’re going to the MLB. We can be on the Amazing Race together.’”

Us Weekly has reached out to representatives for Erika Kirk and Lori Frantze for comment.

Erika took over the role as Turning Point CEO after her husband, Charlie, was fatally shot in the neck while speaking at an outdoor event on the Utah Valley University campus on September 10, 2025. He was 31. (A 22-year-old male was arrested in connection with the shooting on September 11, 2025, but has yet to enter a plea.)

Owens, a former Turning Point USA communications director, has grown increasingly critical of Erika since Charlie’s death.

Related: Candace Owens Claims Erika Kirk Lied About Being Raised by a Single Mother

Candace Owens is raising questions about Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, in her new multi-part docuseries, Bride of Charlie, exploring Erika’s upbringing and background. “I will tell you my personal opinion and experience with her. What alarms me about Erika isn’t so much the fact that she lies, which we will prove to you over […]

In January, Owens leaked audio of Erika, which was reportedly recorded two weeks after Charlie was fatally shot, and suggested the widow was possibly moving on too fast from the loss.

“That’s moving pretty quickly to the acceptance phase now,” Owens told her viewers at the time. “We know everybody grieves differently. In my imagination, I just thought she would be more upset.”

For her part, Erika shared a tribute to Charlie via her Instagram to commemorate turning 37 on February 20.

“I always loved celebrating you, and maybe because it was a reflection of how beautifully you always celebrated me. I romanticized growing old with you, the love of my life,” Erika, who has a son and daughter with Charlie, shared. “I used to wonder what our faces would look like with wisdom-wrinkles. You’d always tell me how you hoped I’d keep my long hair even when we were both gray and also that l’d always wear white (because it was the color you loved me wearing the most).”

Erika added, “We’d laugh about how you’d probably still be out on college campuses in your 80s, doing ‘Prove Me Wrong’ campus events because you loved those students. And then we’d both start to tear up when talking about our babies growing older and having a family of their own. A full life.”

Folks have been refreshing their timelines, waiting on Jania Meshell to enter the chat after Nique popped out riding shotgun with NBA YoungBoy. The social media streets are calm for now, but Jania just posted a few TikTok videos, and now fans are blowing up her comment section asking “What’s Next?” 

RELATED: Internet User Accuses Nique Of Being With Her “Home Girl’s Man” Following Clip From NBA YoungBoy’s Passenger Seat — She Responds

Jania Meshell’s NEW TikTok Videos Have Fans Patiently Waiting On Her “Next Move!”

On Thursday, February 26, Jania Meshell slid onto TikTok with some new videos. Her posts dropped shortly after a clip of Nique cruising with NBA YoungBoy went viral. Even with all of the reactions and folks online dragging Nique for being with her “home girl’s man,” Jania stayed quiet. Her energy gave straight unbothered vibes as she danced and kept twerking on TikTok in a matching two-piece cheetah print set. She left her posts without captions, but her TikTok followers basically wrote one for her, dying to know whether she’s planning on playing chess or checkers with her next move! But still, Jania hasn’t said a word about whether she will or won’t get her lick back. Despite all of the chatter about Jania’s next plan, she’s previously made it clear that, when it comes to her and NBA they are nothing more than co-parents.

Jania’s Video Sparks A Storm Of Reactions Online

As we said, Jania’s comment section was popping! Some fans told her to reach out to Nique’s ex-man, Dwayne Bacon, ASAP, while others mentioned that they were ready to ride out whenever she says go.

TikTok user @Kim🎀 wrote, “GIRL GO GET YO MAN DWAYNE.” 

TikTok user @michele21 wrote, “@Janiameshell just let me know what time we gone ride out.” 

While TikTok user @oneofonebri wrote, “Hey boo what’s the plan? Have you spoke to Wayne yet.” 

TikTok user @thereal._.rayshawn wrote, “I just wanna know yo next move.” 

Another TikTok user @Bri🩷 wrote, “Sista we gotta have a plan by now.” 

Then TikTok user @LadyyB ❤️‍🔥 wrote, “Dwayne needs get here.” 

While another TikTok user @Peso wrote, “Mhm silent but up to no good 😏” 

TikTok user @lyiahlyiah. wrote, “you need help lmk i got you, just fly me out and we gon handle that.” 

Finally, TikTok user @𝒦 ྀིྀིྀིྀིྀི wrote, “girl they tag teamin u cant go out like this get EM!” 

What’s Really Tea On Nique & NBA YoungBoy?

Right now, there’s no word on what led to Nique and YoungBoy’s random link-up. She still took a moment to clap back at trolls accusing her of backstabbing Jania by hanging out with him, though. When one Instagram user called her out in her TikTok comment section, writing, “being with ya home girl man smh… but kk,” she responded back with “My homegirl wouldn’t try to throw dirt on my name online but go off.” On top of that, she cleared the air about her status with Dwayne Bacon. When fans asked where he was, she responded with, “With his new girl in Dubai.” 

As for NBA, he hasn’t said much about the video, but fans have been suspicious about whether he’s hooked up with Nique before. The speculation started online in November 2025, after fans tried to connect his ‘Zero IQ Freestyle’ lyrics to messages from Jania and Yaya Mayweather. NBA shut it down real quick, though, making it clear they’ve never met.

“I never met Nique for me to have sex with her but tell her I’m a loaner from cross the roads 3800blk,” NBA previously wrote in a post on X.

RELATED: Whew! Yaya Mayweather & Starr Deja’nee React After Nique Shares Clip Of Herself Cruising Around With NBA YoungBoy (VIDEO)

Ray J‘s ex-girlfriend, Shila Hasanoff, has spoken out and addressed police arriving to the singer’s home for a recent domestic violence call.

RELATED: REPORT: Police Called To Ray J’s Los Angeles Home For Domestic Violence Incident Allegedly Involving Female Suspect

Ray J’s Ex Shila Hasanoff Speaks Out & Addresses Police Arriving To His Home For Recent Domestic Violence Call

During the early hours of Thursday, February 26, Shila Hasanoff took to her Instagram and TikTok to share a sit-down clip of herself. Furthermore, in the clip, Shila explained that she wanted to “clear the misinformation about the domestic violence” surrounding herself and Ray.

“I want to make something really clear: Ray has never put his hands on me. He’s been under a lot of pressure lately — especially around the Kim and Kris situation. And whether people want to agree with him or not, it affects him in ways people would never understand,” she explained.

Shila explained that on the night of the domestic violence call, she was allegedly trying to keep Ray from “jumping off the ledge,” and she “slapped the dog s**t out of him.” Furthermore, Shila explained that she “regrets it so much,” but Ray was “really frustrated that night.” From there, Shila alleged that she “got ahold” of Ray’s legal documents with the Kardashians, and she understands why he’s upset and things have put a “huge toll on him.”

“I DONT WANT HIM TO LOOK BAD BECAUSE HE IS ALREADY GOING THROUGH A LOT. HE JUST WALKED AWAY AFTER I CALLED HIM AND CALLED THE POLICE ON ME. (WHICH WAS NOT COOL). BUT ANYWAY, SUICIDE IS REAL! I JUST WANT TO SAY IM SORRY @rayj AND I WANNA MAKE SURE U DONT GET INTO ANYMORE TROUBLE BECAUSE I KNOW U ARE STILL OUT ON BAIL, ITS A HOTLINE TO CALL IF YOU FEEL SUICIDAL, I DONT KNOW THE # BUT CALL 911. HOPEFULLY THIS HELPS. WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES. IM SAYING THIS WITH LOVE ❤️‍🩹,” Shila captioned the clip.

Watch her full message below.

Social Media Reacts To Shila Hasanoff’s Statements

Social media users reacted to Shila Hasanoff’s statements regarding the domestic violence call involving Ray J in TSR’s comment section.

Ray J Also Speaks Out After Police Arrived At His Home For A Domestic Violence Call

As The Shade Room previously reported, on Saturday, February 21, Los Angeles police officers received a report about domestic violence battery. When they arrived at what was reported to be Ray’s residence, they learned that the suspect in the ordeal was a “30-year-old Persian female wearing yellow.” However, it was reported that the female nor Ray J wanted to talk to police, so therefore the cops could not take further action.

According to a report published by TMZ on Thursday, February 26, Ray J has now spoken out about the incident.

“”I’m feeling good right now — I’m not suicidal at this moment — I don’t need to call a hotline — I’m perfectly stable,” he stated. “On the night of the incident … She was very aggressive with all the stuff going on… she put her hands on me and I literally got up out of there… was I suicidal in that moment — I don’t know what I was feeling. She slapped me out of control — I didn’t know if it was March or April, my back tooth is loose — it was a massive blow — Hell yeah I called 911 because I left… and she followed me. Her apology was sincere and weird at the same time — but we’re on good terms.”

To note, on Tuesday, February 24, Ray then sparked continued concern when he shared a cyrptic video on social media. Amid it all, Ray J’s estranged wife, Princess Love, has also spoken out, sharing an update on their relationship.

RELATED:  Ray J Sparks Concern After Sharing Now-Deleted Messages About Allegedly Being Targeted: “Now You Trying To Kill Me” (VIDEO)

In 1997, author Lee Child published the novel Killing Floor, which introduced us to the character of Jack Reacher for the first time. The book won both the Anthony Award and Barry Award for best novel, and it kick-started the military thriller series based on the former major of the U.S. military police, who take on odd jobs of investigating and resolving situations. After first being adapted to film, Jack Reacher came to the streaming world in the Prime Video thriller simply titled Reacher, with each season based on one of Child’s novels.

The show has attracted quite a sizable fanbase, and has become quite comfortable for people who love military thrillers. So, this had us thinking, what were the other Reacher-type shows that fans of this thrilling series would enjoy? To do this, we dug into our vast treasure chest of television knowledge to research and come up with the military thrillers that fans of Reacher would be just as comfortable watching.

1

‘The Americans’ (2013–2018)

Image via FX

So, imagine you live in the suburbs, and your next-door neighbors are perfect, a little too perfect. But, as long as they keep inviting you to the backyard barbecues, you don’t mind. Then, one day, you find out why your neighbors are so perfect, as they’re actually spies for the Soviet Union. This scenario is an actual storyline in the FX series The Americans, created by Joe Weisberg, which follows two Soviet KGB officers who pose as Americans to spy on the country.

But all of that spying takes a toll on their family, which transforms The Americans from a high-stakes series to one that actually showcases the complexity of married life. But, make no mistake, The Americans has plenty of tension, thanks in large part to the performances of Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as the KGB spies. It’s actually quite stunning that The Americans have slipped into underrated territory; but, like most of the shows on this list you’re about to read about, use this piece as an excuse to re-watch a truly fantastic series.

2

‘The Sympathizer’ (2024)

Image via HBO

Sometimes, a great thriller isn’t always about the action, but the uncomfortable tension that a storyline can bring. Enter The Sympathizer, the HBO miniseries adapted from Viet Thanh Nguyen‘s Pulitzer-winning novel that was captivating from beginning to end. The series follows a North Vietnamese spy who is forced to flee to America at the end of the Vietnam War. However, he continues to spy for the government that took over Vietnam, which takes a toll on him as he struggles with the loyalties of his new life in America and his loyalties to his home country’s government.

Hoa Xuande, who portrayed the spy, was sensational in the role, bringing a charismatic performance to the role as The Captain. His performance, as well as Robert Downey Jr.‘s, brought a certain type of energy that couldn’t be replicated if any other actors were cast in their roles. While being captivating and occasionally funny, The Sympathizer brought a fresh focus to the Vietnam War storyline, telling the tale from the viewpoint of the Vietnamese rather than relying on the American perspective. If you love Reacher, this miniseries should be a must-watch.

3

‘The Last Ship’ (2014–2018)

Image via TNT

We lost a treasured actor recently in Eric Dane, and we found it fitting that we included one of the most underrated military thrillers that wouldn’t be the same without him. That show was The Last Ship, ran for five seasons on TNT and is just now being rediscovered, and rightfully so. The Last Ship was a twist on the traditional post-apocalyptic story, with Dane starring as Commander Tom Chandler, who commands the USS Nathan James just as a debilitating virus wipes out 80% of the world’s population.

Now, it’s up to the crew and a paleomicrobiologist (Rhona Mitra) to make sure the virus doesn’t kill anyone else. The Last Ship was full of high-octane energy, bringing high-production value that certainly glossed over some of its formulaic storylines. When you watch this series, you feel like you’re watching a movie, not a TV show, and the creators certainly had a knack for detail when it comes to how a military ship operated.

4

‘SEAL Team’ (2017–2024)

Image via Paramount+

While there have been many military shows that have been produced over the years, few have had the raw authenticity as CBS’s SEAL Team. The series, created by Benjamin Cavell, follows the Bravo Team, the most elite group of Navy SEALs, as they go about the globe taking on dangerous missions with little notice. While the central premise of a badass Navy SEAL team kicking butt all over the world, this military series took a different path in its overall plot.

It may seem cool to head out on dangerous missions, but the soldiers in SEAL Team have families, and the series takes a close look at the toll that constantly going out on dangerous missions have on their loved ones. This makes SEAL Team one of the most realistic military shows on television, daring to dive deep into the psychological effect of service rather than its bravado nature. So, if you’re a Reacher fan, SEAL Team will definitely be your cup-of-tea.

5

‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’ (2018–2023)

Image via Prime Video

Before Jack Reacher came to television, we had Jack Ryan, the creation of another famed author, Tom Clancy. Premiering on Prime Video in 2018, Jack Ryan stars John Krasinski as the titular character, a CIA analyst who finds himself in the field trying to bring down some of the world’s worst bad guys.

I’ll admit, when I first heard that Krasinski would play the lead role in Jack Ryan, I had my doubts, as we always saw him as the funny straight guy in the famous sitcom The Office. But he proved me and everyone wrong with his stellar performance as Ryan; and while some may have felt like he brought some of his Office persona to the role, it was just what this show needed to become a hit. While Reacher has definitely outlasted Jack Ryan, this is a series that feels like a spiritual cousin of the former, and that should bring a certain amount of comfort for Reacher fans when they stream this series.

6

‘Generation Kill’ (2008)

Image via HBO

While Band of Brothers is, arguably, HBO’s most well-known series on the military, Generation Kills is, perhaps, one of the network’s most underrated miniseries. Adapted from Evan Wright‘s 2004 book of the same name, Generation Kills looks at the horrors of the Iraq War through the lens of a reporter that’s embedded with the US Marine Corps’ 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. Created by David Simon, Ed Burns, and Wright, you can feel the grittiness, the horror, and the toll that the war took on the soldiers.

While many critics and viewers praised Band of Brothers for its realistic appeal, Generation Kills was basically bathed in realism. In fact, TV critics often regard this show as being hyper-authentic, showing Marine culture in an unfiltered, not-for-everyone way. The cursing, the jargon, the monotony of combat, the atmosphere, everything looks and feels real. It’s almost like Generation Kills could also have been a documentary, but while it feels that way, you will come away feeling like you watched what a military show should be; thrilling, dramatic, and, most of all, authentic.

7

‘The Unit’ (2006–2009)

Image via CBS

Raise your hand if you have heard of the CBS military thriller The Unit? We don’t expect a lot of readers to raise their hands. Heck, even old TV heads like me forgot about this show until I started doing research for this article, which is shocking given that, in the mid-2000s, this show was the network’s most-watched series, with high ratings and being nominated for a Primetme Emmy Award.

Created by David Mamet, The Unit is adapted from Eric L. Haney‘s (who also served as a producer) book Inside Delta Force: The Story of America’s Elite Counterterrorist Unit, the show follows the top-secret Delta Force and how their personal lives are often impacted by dangerous missions. When you see a title like The Unit, you’d think that this show was all high-action; but while it does have its share of thrilling moments, it also functions as a domestic soap opera, especially when it comes when these soldiers are with their families. If you’ve forgotten about this show, now is the time to rediscover one of the best military shows ever.

8

‘Band of Brothers’ (2001)

I certainly hope that no one who reads this piece thought that we wouldn’t recommend Band of Brothers to fans of Reacher. In fact, we’ll go as far as to say that this stellar miniseries is a must-watch. Created by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, this military war series is often regarded as one of the best shows of all-time, an honor that we certainly won’t disagree with.

As with most of the shows on this list, Band of Brothers was adapted from a novel, this time by Stephen E. Ambrose, who wrote the novel of the same name in 1992. Band of Brothers follows “Easy” Company Parachute Infantry and the role they played in the Western Front of the D-Day invasion in World War II. What many fans of Reacher will absolutely love about Band of Brothers is its unrelenting realism. The way the show is filmed, in a desaturated visual that makes you feel like you’re right there in the middle of all the action, like it should be.

9

‘Lioness’ (2023–Present)

Image via Paramount+

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We love everything Taylor Sheridan creates, as he brings that Wild West grit that is simply intoxicating, a sentiment that’s shared with many viewers of his shows. Lioness, however, is a bit polarizing for the Sheridan fanbase. They love the high-action that the series brings, but many thought the show is a bit formulaic with its overall storyline. And, here’s the thing, we really can’t argue with that.

Having said that, formulaic storytelling can often be forgiving if the product on the screen is entertaining, and Lioness is definitely that and then some. Starring Zoe Saldaña as the leader of an elite CIA team that enlists female operatives, Lioness packs a huge punch when it comes to intense, military action. Saldaña is terrific and a bit terrifying as Joe McNamara, the senior case officer who leads the Lioness program. Her presence is imposing and tense, and she gives a very strong performance that easily makes you forgive some of the show’s weaknesses. Lioness is the perfect comfort food show, especially for Reacher fans.

10

‘The Pacific’ (2010)

Image via HBO

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While we can’t heap enough praise on Band of Brothers, The Pacific is equally amazing. The second of a three-part miniseries that follows the U.S. Military during World War II, Bruce McKenna created The Pacific to focus on the Marine Corps’ role in the war’s Pacific Theater, which was much more devastating and traumatic for Americans as the European Theater was.

The show follows the experience of Marines from three different divisions. Each of the Marines has a different experience than the other, but all the stories are interconnected and all of them showcase the horrors the Pacific Theater unleashed. Much like Band of Brothers, The Pacific is drenched in hyperrealism, but this series is definitely darker and more harrowing than its predecessor; and the visuals are simply top-notch. Gone are the desaturated visuals, and in are haunting tropical hues in which you can feel the punishing heat of the Pacific right through the screen. If you’re a fan of Reacher and you loved Band of Brothers, this series is a much-watch.

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The Pacific

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Release Date

2010 – 2010-00-00

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Network

HBO Max

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