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From the moment it arrived on Amazon Prime Video in 2015, Bosch captured the hearts of crime TV fans everywhere. Across 7 seasons and 3 seasons of the sequel series Bosch: Legacy, Amazon’s Michael Connelly adaptation established itself as one of the best cop thrillers of the streaming era. While a solid show all round, there’s a key ingredient to its success.
The writing and direction of Bosch and Bosch: Legacy are both sharp, but it’s hard to deny that the cast is the cornerstone of the show’s success. This was especially true of Titus Welliver as Harry Bosch. Welliver's nuanced performance carried both Bosch and Bosch: Legacy for a remarkable 10 seasons and turned Bosch into one of television's most beloved detectives.
Bosch: Legacy may have concluded in 2025, but the Bosch universe is far from over. What’s more, for the first time, Titus Welliver won't be the focus. While the timeline is extending into the future in Ballard, Bosch is getting a spinoff of his own, the prequel series Bosch: Start of Watch, which will feature a much younger Harry Bosch. It’s a big gamble, however, since for the first time, the Bosch franchise will be charging ahead without Titus Welliver.
Cameron Monaghan Will Be Playing Harry Bosch In The New Series
When Harry Bosch returns to Prime Video, it will be in a very different form. The upcoming Bosch prequel series Bosch: Start of Watch is taking viewers to the beginning of the detective's career, back in the 1990s when Harry still wore a uniform. Rather than following the seasoned investigator audiences know from Bosch and Bosch: Legacy, the new series explores Bosch's earliest days with the Los Angeles Police Department. For this venture, a new actor is stepping into Titus Welliver’s shoes: Shameless star Cameron Monaghan.
Casting Cameron Monaghan as Harry Bosch was a necessity for Start of Watch. Titus Welliver’s version of Harry had decades of experience behind him. He carried the emotional scars of a long career investigating some of the city's darkest crimes. Titus Welliver's performance depended heavily on that accumulated history, a history Cameron Monaghan's Bosch in Bosch: Start of Watch has yet to experience.
Cameron Monaghan's Harry Bosch is a rookie patrol officer only just beginning to understand the complexities of policing in LA in the 1990s. It’s not just a physical age difference between him and the grizzled Bosch played by Titus Welliver; it’s a mental and emotional one too. Both actors may be portraying the same detective, but the two versions of Harry Bosch couldn’t be more different.
Titus Welliver Hasn't Left The World Of Bosch
Even with the excitement surrounding Bosch: Start of Watch, the prospect of a Bosch series without Titus Welliver may feel strange to longtime fans. For many viewers, Welliver's performance was the defining element of both Bosch and Bosch: Legacy. His quiet intensity and deeply human portrayal of Harry Bosch were instrumental in making the character one of television's great detectives. Fortunately, fans don’t have to say goodbye to his version of Bosch just yet thanks to the upcoming season 2 of Ballard.
Following its acclaimed first season, Ballard season 2 was greenlit by Amazon in October 2025, and it has been confirmed that Titus Welliver will return as Harry Bosch. The sequel spinoff may focus on Maggie Q’s Detective Renée Ballard, but Bosch remains an important figure in her world. According to reports, Welliver will return for several episodes of Ballard season 2, just as he did in the first season.
Alongside Bosch: Start of Watch, Ballard season 2 is part of the next era for the Bosch franchise. Amazon is effectively delivering two different versions of Harry Bosch at the same time. On one side is the veteran detective, older and more jaded, continuing his story in Ballard. On the other is the inexperienced young officer portrayed by Cameron Monaghan, just beginning his journey in Bosch: Start of Watch.
For a franchise mostly centered on a single character, it’s an exciting reinvention. Rather than ending with Bosch: Legacy, the world of Harry Bosch is expanding in multiple directions. More importantly, fans are not being asked to choose between the old and the new. With Welliver still appearing in Ballard season 2 and Monaghan preparing to explore Bosch's earliest years in Bosch: Start of Watch, Prime Video is ensuring that there are plenty of stories about the legendary detective still to come.
