Credit: Lucas Oliveira de Gouveia/How-To GeekWhen it comes to in-flight entertainment, there are two kinds of flyers—the ones who gamble on the random crud on the seat-back screen or the airplane Wi-Fi and those who download their entertainment the night before. Be the second kind. TV shows offer the ultimate flexibility when flying. You can watch a single episode between the drink cart and your nap, or binge a whole season on a long-haul flight—it’s your call.
For my next flight, I’ve got a handful of shows on Prime Video that will make excellent distractions in the air, including a Tom Hiddleston spy thriller I’ve gotten hooked on, some gorgeous animation shows, a noir Nicolas Cage, and a Canadian sketch comedy nobody else in my house wants to watch.
The Ghost in the Shell
The stunning reboot of a cyberpunk classic
Starting with the newest show on this list, The Ghost in the Shell premiered earlier this month on Prime Video, and it’s a genuine event for anime fans that I cannot wait to check out. Animated by the studio behind Dan Da Dan, this adaptation of Masamune Shirow’s original manga is said to restore story arcs other versions left out.
It follows the iconic Major Motoko Kusanagi and her Section 9 counter-cyberterrorism unit as they chase the hacker known as The Puppet Master and other threats through a stunningly vivid neon world. The ethereal music adds to the show’s vibe, too. New episodes arrive weekly, so you can’t binge them all yet—but downloading what’s available and being caught up for when I get home is reward enough.
The Ghost in the Shell
Release Date
July 7, 2026
WHERE TO WATCH
Network
Fuji TV, Kansai TV, Tokai Television Broadcasting, Fukui TV, Hokkaido Cultural Broadcasting, Iwate Menkoi Television, Sendai Television, SAGA TV, TNC, OHK, Ishikawa TV, Kochi Sun Sun Broadcasting, TV Shizuoka, Television Shin Hiroshima System, NST, NBS, Sakuranbo TV, TSK, Ehime Broadcasting, KTS, Fukushima TV, AKT, Toyama Television, TV Kumamoto, Okinawa Television Broadcasting, KTN
Cast
Maaya Sakamoto, Hiroki Yasumoto, Yuichi Nakamura, Kazuhiro Yamaji, Kousuke Goto, Toru Nara, Marie Ôi, Tomoko Kaneda
Directors
Mokochan, Lucien Dodge, Touma Kimura
Writers
Tô Enjo
Main Genre
Anime
Creator(s)
Shirow Masamune
Producers
Kohei Sakita, Kengo Abe, Daichi Sasa, Hirokuni Taniguchi
Seasons
1
Studio
Science Saru
Japanese Title
Koukaku Kidoutai
Based On
Manga
The Night Manager (Season 2)
Tom Hiddleston’s suave spy gets a second act
I love me some spy thrills, and The Night Manager has been on my watch list for years in anticipation of a second season, and it finally dropped. A decade after Jonathan Pine (Hiddleston) infiltrated the corrupt world of arms dealer Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie), Pine (now called Matthew Ellis) heads to Colombia to get close to Teddy Dos Santos (Diego Calva) to bring down a plot for political regime change.
Both seasons are there for download on Prime Video, and a third season is confirmed, so consider this your homework.
Network
BBC One
Cast
Tom Hiddleston, Douglas Hodge, Olivia Colman, Noah Jupe, Hugh Laurie, Diego Calva, Camila Morrone, Tom Hollander, Paul Chahidi, Elizabeth Debicki, Hayley Squires, David Harewood, Alistair Petrie, Caroline Loncq, Erich Redman, John le Carré, Malcolm Freeman, Natasha Little, Russell Tovey, Said Bey, Tobias Menzies, Bijan Daneshmand, Duncan Pow, Katherine Kelly, Marta Torné, Nader Boussandel, Adrian Tauss, Esther Regina, Gertrude Thoma, Mansour Badri, Rami Nasr, Mohamed Boussalem, Gregor Acuña-Pohl, Fleur Keith, Michael Nardone
Directors
Susanne Bier, Georgi Banks-Davies
Writers
David Farr
Franchise(s)
Based on a novel by John le Carré
Main Genre
Thriller
Creator(s)
David Farr
Producers
Rob Bullock, Matthew Patnick
Seasons
2
Streaming Service(s)
A
Executive Producer(s)
Arthur Wang, Chris Rice, William D. Johnson, Susanne Bier, Tessa Inkelaar, Tom Hiddleston, Stephen Cornwell, Stephen Garrett, Adrián Guerra, Gaynor Holmes, Georgi Banks-Davies, Hugh Laurie, Joe Tsai, Michele Wolkoff, Nicholas Cornwell, Polly Hill, Simon Cornwell
The Legend of Vox Machina (Season 4)
Critical Role’s band of misfit heroes reunite for round four
Prime’s foul-mouthed Dungeons & Dragons adaptation, The Legend of Vox Machina, is a runaway hit, with every one of its four seasons landing perfect 100% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. The new season (which dropped in June) picks up a year after the fall of the dragons of the Chroma Conclave, with Vox Machina scattered across Exandria until a long-slumbering evil rudely ends everyone’s nice time.
Thankfully, all episodes are available to binge (I always hated waiting for new ones), but the excellently brutal violence and nonstop swearing make Vox Machina a definite headphones’ situation.
Network
Prime Video
Cast
Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Matthew Mercer, Travis Willingham, Will Friedle, Troy Baker, Robbie Daymond, Logic, Mason Alexander Park, Zoe O’Brien, David Tennant, Tony Hale, Felicia Day, Max Mittelman, Stephanie Beatriz, Khary Payton, Indira Varma, Darin De Paul, Anjali Bhimani, Grey DeLisle
Showrunner
Brandon Auman
Directors
Young Heller, Eugene Lee, Alicia Chan
Writers
Eugene Son, Travis Willingham, Chris Wyatt, Kevin Burke, Suzanne Keilly, Mae Catt, Todd Casey, Ashly Burch, May Chan, Marc Bernardin
Main Genre
Animation
Creator(s)
Chris Prynoski
Producers
Ashley Johnson, Chris Prynoski, Sam Riegel, Taliesin Jaffe, Ben Kalina, Brandon Auman, Laura Bailey, Liam O’Brien, Matthew Mercer, Marisha Ray
Seasons
4
Story By
Sam Riegel
Streaming Service(s)
Prime Video
Executive Producer(s)
Ashley Johnson, Chris Prynoski, Sam Riegel, Taliesin Jaffe, Ben Kalina, Brandon Auman, Laura Bailey, Liam O’Brien, Matthew Mercer, Marisha Ray
Spider-Noir
Nicolas Cage breathes life into his animated Spider-Verse character
One of the unique and creative shows Prime Video has ever produced, Spider-Noir rips Nicolas Cage from just doing the voice for this enigmatic character from the animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and drops the actor into Depression-era New York as Ben Reilly, a grizzled private investigator who’s hung up the Spider mask in favor of a quieter life.
Of course, corruption, violence, and a beautiful woman drag him back in. All eight super-stylish episodes make for a tidy single-flight binge, and (here’s the unique and creative part) it streams in both “True-Hue Full Color” and “Authentic Black & White.” You choose.
Network
MGM+
Cast
Nicolas Cage, Lamorne Morris, Brendan Gleeson, Jack Huston, Li Jun Li, Randy Oglesby, Richard Robichaux, Karen Rodriguez, Abraham Popoola, Lukas Haas, Cameron Britton, Cary Christopher, Michael Kostroff, Scott MacArthur, Amanda Schull, Amy Aquino, Andrew Robinson
Showrunner
Oren Uziel, Steve Lightfoot
Directors
Harry Bradbeer
Franchise(s)
Spider-Man
Main Genre
Action
Creator(s)
Oren Uziel
Producers
Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, Amy Pascal, Steve Lightfoot
Seasons
1
Streaming Service(s)
Prime Video
Release Window
2026
Executive Producer(s)
Harry Bradbeer, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Aditya Sood, Amy Pascal, Dan Shear
The Kids in the Hall (2022)
Canadian sketch legends, exhumed and still weird
Sadly, the original seasons of The Kids in the Hall are not available to U.S. Prime Video subscribers currently, but its excellent 2022 revival is. The Kids are back, as Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson return after a 27-year gap, digging themselves out of their graves in the opening sketch.
And these eight brilliant episodes prove the Canuck sketch legends still got it, with refreshed recurring characters like the Headcrusher, Buddy Cole, Kathy and Cathy, and the Policemen, along with some new edgy material (and maybe some full-frontal male nudity). Chase it with The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks, a two-part documentary also on Prime, and you’ve got a full flight of head-crushing.
Network
Prime Video
Cast
Bruce McCulloch, Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, Scott Thompson, Tommie-Amber Pirie, Debra McGrath, Christina Pitts Jazzar
Producers
Bruce McCulloch, Colin Brunton, Dave Foley, Kelly Makin, Kevin McDonald, Lorne Michaels, Mark McKinney, Norm Hiscock, Scott Thompson, Jennifer Goodhue, Jen Kirkman, Matt Watts, Julie Klausner, Andy Garland, Mark Valdez
Seasons
1
Fly right with these Prime Video picks
Wherever you’re headed, these downloadable Prime Video picks will make your flight go by in a jiffy. For more recommendations across every streaming service and what’s worth watching next, keep an eye on our streaming coverage at How-To Geek.
Subscription with ads
Yes, via Prime membership or $9/month
Simultaneous streams
3
Live TV
No
Price
Included with Amazon Prime subscription ($15/month or $139/year) or $9/month standalone
