The new season of Reacher has clearly been a hit with a lot of people with a Prime Video subscription, as the streaming platform has been touting the number of viewers that Season 3 has received. However, the show is also a big hit with star Alan Ritchson, as it allows his character to go head-to-head with somebody who might actually be able to hurt Jack Reacher.
Author Lee Child’s original conception of Jack Reacher was to make a character who was powerful and imposing, somebody who’se bigger than everybody else, which was a big reason that the Jack Reacher films with Tom Cruise never worked with fans. It makes reacher seem as the obvious winner in any fight, but as Ritchson points out our sister site GamesRadar, an invincible character doesn’t create much drama for the audience, despite the fact that some actors reportedly insist on it. Ritchson said…
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?
Alan Ritchson may not name names, but he doesn’t really have to. It’s already been reported in the past that stars including Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham have clauses in their contracts that prevent the characters they play from looking weak on screen.
While we all like to watch the hero beat up the bad guys, if we know going in that the hero is going to win easily, it certainly does reduce the dramatic power of those moments. Jack Reacher was specifically designed to be the guy you know is going to win the fight. Previous seasons of thew show have found other ways to create tension for the character beyond the possibility of getitng beat up.
But then, entirely because Jack Reacher is so big, when you put him up against somebody bigger, it adds anew level of drama to the situation. This is something Jack Reacher rarely if ever comoes up against, so it’s fair that audience really won’t know what;s going to happen. Ritchson continues…
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.
To be fair, we know that the good guy is going to win almost all the time. While losing is always possible, and sometimes does happen, the show or movie is the hero’s story, and the only real question is not if they will win, but how. Still, giving Jack Reacher an opponent who is capable of beating the hell out of him will certainly make fans wonder just how he’s going to get out of this one.
Reacher Season 4 is already on the way. How the show will make Reacher not seem invincible may be the show's most difficult challenge.
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