There’s no end to Reacher in sight, after Amazon green lit Season 6 while Season 5 is still in production.
Variety reported that Reacher Season 4, whose season finale hit Prime Video earlier this month, reached a whopping 66 million viewers within 28 days of launch. That’s enough for Season 4 to rank among the top five most-viewed seasons of any original series on Prime Video. All told, Reacher has reached 200 million viewers globally.
Reacher star Alan Ritchson, whose popularity has exploded alongside the show, is currently filming Season 5 in Toronto. The series is an adaptation of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher book series, with each season loosely based on a particular novel. Amazon has yet to say which book Season 6 is based on.
Clearly, Reacher hits hard — and I’m not just talking about the punches Ritchson dishes out onto the noses of bad guys each episode. The Reacher formula is simple: a no-nonsense, 240-pound former U.S. Army military police major rocks up to a random small town and inevitably becomes embroiled in some conspiracy only he can deal with. His methods are two-fold: punch his way out of trouble, and being the smartest person in the room while doing so. Reacher rejects modern life — he doesn’t even have a phone — preferring to drift across the United States as a nomad. He has friends; partner in solving crime Frances Neagley proved so popular she got her own spinoff show, but ultimately Reacher is his own man. His main purpose in life is to not let people get away with things, and that’s a message that has resonated with a global audience over the last few years.
While each season so far has varied in quality (Season 1 remains the high point for me), Reacher’s enormous popularity continues regardless. I imagine Amazon will want the 43-year-old Ritchson breaking bones for as long as his own can withstand the intense work schedule and fitness routine required for the role.
Meanwhile, Ritchson is among many names touted for various DC Universe and MCU roles. While he’s ruled out playing Batman for James Gunn, Ritchson has teased talks with the DC Studios co-CEO about potentially playing another character. He has the size to play any number of hulking superheroes or villains. Aquaman? Shazam? Captain Atom? Hawkman?
