For thriller novel fans there are a few series that have just always been destined to find their way to the screen. In the 1980s and 90s, Tom Clancy was writing bestseller after bestseller about CIA analyst (and eventual President of the U.S.) Jack Ryan, which led to multiple movies and even an ongoing series on Amazon Prime.
In more recent years, one series that had fans clamoring for years to see it adapted to the screen was the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child (the pen name for British author Jim Grant). This came to fruition in 2012, when the film Jack Reacher was released (followed by a sequel in 2016 called Jack Reacher: Never Go Back).
Mission accomplished… or was it really?
Who is Jack Reacher?
The character from the novels is a retired major in the United States Army Military Police Corps. After retiring from the Army at the age of 36, Reacher finds himself unwilling to simply enter ‘normal’ society. He is a highly decorated Army officer who grew up in the military, as his father was a career military man.
Reacher attended West Point and was on the fast track for a long military career. He received numerous awards (Silver Star, etc.) as well as multiple Purple Heart awards for wounds sustained during the bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut in 1983. Reacher was the commander of the fictional 110th Special Investigations Unit, which was formed to handle exceptionally difficult cases.
He is also a renowned marksman and sniper, being described as the only non-Marine to win the Wimbledon Cup (a US Marine Corps invitational rifle tournament).
Reach is a seasoned investigator, with a rigid moral code, and an unwillingness to cut corners or play political games - a primary reason he did not rise above the rank of Major and why he left the Army when he did. His life after the Army follows him as he becomes something of a drifter.
He has no real home and simply travels around the U.S. (typically by bus) often with no particular destination in mind. His travels and his predilection for investigations inevitably get him wound up in all manner of dangerous adventures.
The Jack Reacher Movies
Both Jack Reacher movies starred Tom Cruise as the title character. Seems fine on the surface. Cruise certainly has built a strong career in action movies like Mission Impossible, but fans of the novels had a pretty serious issue with the casting. Tom Cruise is 5’ 7” tall.
In the novels, Jack Reacher is described as being 6’ 5” tall and 250 lbs. Why does this matter? The novel character’s imposing size is very much a part of who he is as a character and plays a role in the stories.
So, let’s just say that fans of the novels were never thrilled with the casting. Additionally, while the movies were perfectly serviceable action flicks, they weren’t exactly that memorable.
What we Know About the Series
So, this brings us to Amazon’s decision to adapt the first Jack Reacher novel (Killing Floor) into a streaming series. It premiers on the streaming channel on February 4, 2022.
Amazon immediately gave fans of the novels a nod by casting Alan Ritchson in the lead role. Ritchson stands a more reasonable 6’ 2” and looks the part of large and physically imposing man.
The first season of the series will cover the first book in the Jack Reacher novel series, Killing Floor. In the book, Reacher gets off a bus in a small town in Georgia on a whim. However, he suddenly finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation, after the local sheriff falsely identifies him as a suspect.
This leads Reacher to attempt to clear his name, which turns out to be much more difficult than one would imagine. There are twists and turns and surprises along the way.
Keep an eye out for our series review after it premiers on February 4!
