Prime Video’s ‘Ballard’ Recasts Harry Bosch With a Younger Actor — But for a Good Reason

Those worried about Welliver getting replaced as Bosch don’t need to worry too much, as the actor will still be appearing as the present-day Harry Bosch in the upcoming season. However, the new episodes will be leaning more into the time-shift of the cases Renee Ballard investigates as part of the LAPD cold case department, and that means some flashback elements are required to fully flesh out the story. This is where (per CBR) Meade-Mullarkey steps in, portraying Bosch in years previously untapped by the TV shows.

What many fans are now questioning, is whether this could be a step towards a new “young Bosch” series, which, considering Amazon MGM Studios’ involvement in the series, would not be out of the question. There have been many shows that have recently attempted to create new prequel stories for popular characters – Dexter gave fans Original Sin, Supernatural tried it with The Winchesters, and NCIS has recently branched out with their Gibbs prequel series – but for now, it seems that the new casting is just a necessary requirement to tell Ballard’s next story.

Titus Welliver Wants to Continue Playing Bosch For as Long as He Can

Despite Bosch: Legacy being brought to a (premature for many) end after just three seasons, Ballard has picked up the torch with style and delivered another hit series for Prime Video based on the novels of Michael Connelly. While Connelly is currently working on a new crime drama away from the world of Bosch, he is also still writing Bosch novels, meaning there is always a chance of another Bosch project happening in the future. For now though, Titus Welliver is just happy to know that Bosch is still out there and continues to be incredibly popular among fans.

“He lives on in Michael’s books, and Mike being as prolific as he is, he still continues to write Bosch books. I really feel like this show has a commitment and a depth to it that will will kind of always go on. It will be rediscovered and discovered by new audiences and the devout people. I do it all the time with television programs, you know, going back to the 60s, 70s, 80s, whatever, 90s, I’ll re watch stuff a lot. It’s comfort food, right? It’s for your brain. You want to either engage or you want to disengage, but you know it well enough that it offers you the sound. It’s like being a child, you know, drifting off to sleep when your parents are having a party. You know the adults are in the other room, so you’re comforted by the sound of their voices, but you’re in your room.”

While the idea of a new Bosch being on the block could signal a shift from Welliver’s version of the character, it seems more likely this Meade-Mullarkey’s casting is more of a complimentary aside than an outright recast. Welliver’s Bosch is clearly going to be a presence in Ballard regardless, and who knows, perhaps there will be another standalone Bosch project still to come in the future.

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  Ballard
  

  Release Date

  July 9, 2025
  

  Network

  Prime Video

  Directors

  Jet Wilkinson

  
  

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    Courtney Taylor

    Samira Parker

  
  

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  Bosch
  

  Release Date

  2015 – 2021-00-00

  Network

  Prime Video

  Showrunner

  Eric Ellis Overmyer

  Directors

  Alex Zakrzewski, Ernest R. Dickerson, Patrick Cady, Aaron Lipstadt, Adam Davidson, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, Kevin Dowling, Neema Barnette, Tim Hunter, Zetna Fuentes, Christine Moore, Jim McKay, Laura Belsey, Matt Earl Beesley, Phil Abraham, Roxann Dawson, Sarah Pia Anderson, Stephen Gyllenhaal, Tara Nicole Weyr, Thomas Carter, Hagar Ben-Asher

  
  

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