Prime Video’s Reacher has been a huge success, with the latest season attracting a massive audience. But for Alan Ritchson, who plays the powerful ex-military investigator Jack Reacher, the real thrill comes when his character faces real challenges.
While the show stays true to Lee Child’s vision of Reacher as an almost unstoppable force—built like a tank with giant hands and rock-hard abs—Ritchson believes an invincible hero can get boring. And he has a point, even if the idea of a man getting so muscular from digging swimming pools is still pretty funny.
In an interview with GamesRadar, Ritchson talked about how important it is for Reacher to face real challenges, especially when some actors prefer to always look unstoppable on screen.
Advertisement We live in an age where there are a lot of actors out there. I’m not gonna name names, but like, there are people who just kind of have to be invincible in their roles. And what kind of fun is that for audiences?
Ritchson didn’t name anyone directly, but it’s well known that some Hollywood action stars have contracts that stop their characters from looking too beaten up. Actors like Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, and Jason Statham are said to have such rules to make sure they never appear “weak” on screen—though that might be a kind of weakness in itself. Ritchson, however, thinks avoiding damage takes away the excitement that makes action scenes truly engaging.
In Reacher season 3, the character faces one of his most brutal fights yet—something unusual for the usually unstoppable drifter. Reacher is built to be bigger, stronger, and brighter than most of his enemies, but Ritchson thinks seeing him struggle makes the story more exciting.
You know, if [Reacher] is like, too superhuman or indestructible, it’s not gonna be that fun to watch. So it’s really fun to pair him with somebody that makes you question whether or not he’s gonna live.
Fans know Reacher will win in the end, but the uncertainty of how he gets there keeps them hooked. In past seasons, the challenges were more about solving mysteries, dealing with betrayal, and facing tough moral choices for him and his 110th Special Investigators unit. But season 3 takes things up a notch by giving Reacher a real physical threat, making the show even more thrilling.
Reacher Season 3 is now streaming on Prime Video.
Source: CinemaBlend & Games Radar