If you’ve been missing Jensen Ackles on your small screen, Prime Video is about to make your summer!
Prime Video has confirmed Ackles’ newest original series, Countdown, will be arriving on Wednesday, June 25, making it one of the biggest new series of the summer season. Following the standard Prime Video release model, the new series will kick off with a special three-episode premiere event before episodes move into a weekly release schedule for the remainder of the season. This release strategy will see new episodes dropping weekly throughout the summer, leading up to the season finale on Sept. 3 just as summer draws to a close and we look ahead to fall TV.
With its late June premiere, Countdown is primed to become Prime Video’s biggest release of the summer. It also means we could be seeing Ackles returning to San Diego Comic-Con this summer, should Prime Video choose to promote the new series at the annual pop culture event, where Ackles has been a mainstay for years between Supernatural and, most recently, Prime’s The Boys franchise.
Countdown has all the makings to become the next big hit for Prime Video. Not only does the show mark Ackles’ first headline role since Supernatural wrapped, but it also hails from the creative mind behind Wolf Entertainment’s hit One Chicago and FBI franchises: Derek Haas. With the hit franchises on break for the summer, Countdown is one fans of the two franchises won’t want to miss, nor will those who love a good action-packed crime drama want to sleep on this new series which seems perfect for fans of The Night Agent and The Recruit.
The new series sees Ackles starring as LAPD detective Mark Meachum, who is recruited to join a secret task force, alongside undercover agents from all branches of law enforcement following the high-profile murder of a Department of Homeland Security officer. As the official synopsis teases, “the hunt for the killer soon uncovers a plot far more sinister than anyone could have imagined, kicking off a race against time to save a city of millions.”
Toss in the incredible ensemble of Eric Dane, Jessica Camacho, Violett Beane, Elliot Knight, and Uli Latukefu, and you have a series that fans aren’t going to want to miss this summer!
It’s exciting to see Amazon giving the series a prime spot in its release schedule. The summer release will see the show dropping its debut season during a time when there is less competition, when fans are looking for something new to watch while waiting for their fall favorites to return. This also means that we’re probably not going to see The Boys: Gen V back this summer, as all signs seem to point towards Countdown being Prime’s big summer release with The Boys: Gen V likely coming in the fall instead.
What will be interesting is to see how Amazon approaches the future of the show, should it indeed take off as Ackles is also set to lead The Boys spinoff, Vought Rising. Fortunately, they’re both from Prime Video which can help the studio juggle Ackles’ filming schedule – and when has more Jensen Ackles ever been a bad thing?!