The fourth season of Amazon Prime’s Reacher is set to come out this week, and it’s got us thinking about how Alan Ritchson’s larger-than-life portrayal of the titular character from Lee Child’s pulp novel series isn’t just homaging the action classics of the 80s and 90s; it’s in many ways taking the reins and charting a path for something new.
While we admittedly all have soft spots in our hearts for the iconic action films of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and others from the “ultimate era” of the '80s and '90s, it’s obvious that era is long gone at this point.
And despite a few promising entries over the years with the likes of Jason Bourne and John Wick, we really haven’t seen a new action hero emerge worthy of this pedigree. That is, until Reacher showed up.
The Growing Legacy of Jack Reacher
'Reacher'
Credit: Amazon Prime
Based on the titular character in the Jack Reacher novel series, first published in 1997 by Lee Child, Reacher has always been a larger-than-life character deserving of a portrayal on the biggest of screens.
And that’s exactly what the character got with Tom Cruise taking on the role in the Christopher McQuarrie-written and directed first action thriller of a two-film series. However, while the films—I’d argue—do quite well enough in their own rights, they’re lacking one element which was always going to be the case.
Tom Cruise isn’t big. Reacher is big. Alan Ritchson, like the action stars like Arnie and Stallone who came before him, is big. And, for better or for worse, that’s a huge element of what makes the character so notable, so iconic, and ultimately just work.
'Reacher' Season 4
Debuting on August 12th, 2026, Reacher Season 4 is based on Gone Tomorrow, the thirteenth novel in the Jack Reacher Series by Child, and is set to follow Reacher try to solve yet another death mystery, this time in New York.
The season is set to feature your expected mix of larger deadly conspiracy elements, Al Qaeda terrorists, countless murders, and—as you should always expect—plenty of fights and action sequences that center around Reacher being big.
As someone who’s watched nearly every main action movie of the 80s and 90s from the likes of Arnold, Stallone, Van Damme, Chuck Norris, Michael Dudikoff, Billy Blanks, etc., I can tell you, Reacher is simply a show that understands its own action roots well enough to find its own unique blend of thriller storytelling and modern action escapades.
What to Watch For
'Reacher'
Credit: Amazon Prime
If you’re an action movie fan, or perhaps an aspiring filmmaker or showrunner, Reacher can be both great entertainment and research. It’s a show meant to be a more by-the-book retelling of Reacher’s tale, yet has now become its own phenomenon, with homages, both intentional and unintentional, to the classic films and shows that came before it.
The main thing to remember is that if you’re working with an iconic character known for one thing, like being big. You gotta make him big.
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- Creating the Practical World of 'Reacher' ›
- Read and Download the 'Reacher' Pilot Script ›
- Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie Break Down Some of Their Most Famous Films ›
- Alan Ritchson Wants Hollywood to Bring Back the 'Everyday' Action Hero ›
