Tom Hanks’ Secret 9-Part Band of Brothers Sequel Is Worth A Binge

by

While Masters of the Air is officially connected to the Band of Brothers and The Pacific, its move to Apple TV+ from HBO meant some viewers who enjoyed those earlier series might not have realized the connection. Regardless, Masters of the Air, Apple TV’s 2024 miniseries, was a major television event.

With a budget of $250 million, Masters of the Air was one of the most expensive TV shows ever made, and it was heavily promoted. The series featured a star-studded cast including Austin Butler, Ncuti Gatwa, and Barry Keoghan, alongside other talented actors like Bel Powley, Callum Turner, and Isabel May.

Masters of the Air Was Apple TV’s Belated Band of Brothers Follow-up

Image courtesy of Everett Collection

Despite the anticipation, the premiere of Masters of the Air didn’t generate quite the same level of buzz as its earlier companion series. Many viewers didn’t realize that Masters of the Air is connected to Band of Brothers, the acclaimed series that first aired in 2001 and was created by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.

When it first came out, Band of Brothers was a huge hit and launched the careers of many of its actors. The series, based on Stephen E. Ambrose’s 1992 book of the same name, tells the story of Easy Company, a real unit from the 506th Infantry Regiment, and their experiences during World War II.

Nine years after the success of Band of Brothers, a follow-up series called The Pacific was released in 2010. Featuring actors like Rami Malek and Jon Bernthal, the series drew inspiration from the memoirs With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene Sledge and Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie. The Pacific offered a more intense and graphic depiction of war, broadening the scope of the original series.

Based on the book of the same name by Donald L. Miller, Masters of the Air tells the story of the 100th Bomb Group, a unit within the Eighth Air Force stationed in Europe during World War II. Originally planned as the final part of a trilogy alongside Band of Brothers, the series lost some of its connection to that acclaimed franchise when it moved to a different distributor.

Masters of the Air Is A Worthy Successor To Band of Brothers and The Pacific

As a huge fan of shows like The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Deadwood, and The Wire, I always think of Band of Brothers and The Pacific when I think of HBO. They really define what HBO became known for – that gritty, realistic violence, complex characters, and stories that weren’t afraid to get dark. Those two series, more than many others, helped establish HBO as a major force in television, a network willing to take risks and deliver truly powerful content.

Because Masters of the Air shares a similar style with Band of Brothers and The Pacific, some viewers might not have understood it was meant to be part of the same story. This confusion was made worse by the fact that Masters of the Air wasn’t as gritty or intense as the previous two series, which is unfortunate because the 2024 series was very well-made in its own right.

Read More

2026-03-12 23:38