The Jack Reacher Book Moment That Made Alan Ritchson Cheer Out Loud

Age is but a number, but to some fictional heroes, it's really nothing at all. Comic book characters, super spies, and even the likes of "The Simpsons" that have been around for decades have stood the passage of time (even if the canon hasn't). One popular hero that won't be able to escape the ageing process, however, is one-man wrecking crew Jack Reacher, who, after three seasons, is thriving on Prime Video as one of the streamer's most popular shows. For the man playing the overly large thorn in the side of drug barons, weapons dealers, and generally bad people, Alan Ritchson isn't getting any younger, which he simply sees as a blessing for the hero he has no plans of parting ways with.

Speaking to Empire about the role that he's effortlessly made his own, Ritchson clocked an important detail about his character in the book series penned by Lee Child. "I think in the first or second book, he mentions Reacher's hair is thinning. I think I cheered out loud!" That simple detail put the star at ease for the character he's done such a great job of bringing to life. "There's no pressure here to like, maintain my youth as we go through this, so I don't care. I'll keep shooting as long as people will have me." What's equally impressive about Ritchson's enthusiasm, however, is just how much he wants to do this gig annually and with an approach that's anything but by the book.

Just because he's ageing with Reacher, Alan Ritchson isn't for taking time outs after seasons and is keen to get as many of his character's stories on screen as possible, even revisiting the show more than once a year. "I would like to shoot three or four of these books a year, so I'm not 100 by the time we get done!" he said. "Because I want to tell every one of these stories, but we would have to advance the schedule here a little bit."

There's a great collection of books to choose from for Reacher's future outings and Ritchson is hoping to tackle a few key stories in the show. "You know, I don't know if we're gonna go in an order or not," explained the actor, given that the first, second, and third seasons adapt the first, eleventh, and seventh books in the series. "But I was so captivated by the first seven books. I raced through them in a week and a half, and I just loved each one. 'Die Trying' is an amazing book. 'The Hard Way'—there are some amazing books that would make great shows." Before that happens, though, there's the matter of Reacher's longtime pal, Neagley (Maria Sten), getting her own spin-off show, which is expected to be released before season 4 returns. Ultimately, there's plenty of tales to come storming out of the Reacher-verse and whatever they end up being, we're willing to hear the big guy and his buddy out.