The Batman Character Alan Ritchson Agrees Reacher Is Like (It's Not Who You Think)

After almost 20 years in the industry, Alan Ritchson finally landed a role that propelled him into the public consciousness in a way that had eluded him over the previous two decades. The actor started out by playing Arthur Curry/Aquaman on "Smallville" back in 2006 and has been working solidly ever since. But playing formidable ex-military policeman Jack Reacher in Prime Video's hugely successful "Reacher" has really transformed the now-42-year-old's career, with Ritchson appearing in multiple high-profile movie projects ever since, including "Fast X" and "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare."

Along with all of his success, Ritchson has found himself being fancast as the next Batman — and when I say "found himself," I mean "actively encouraged the idea." The man has made no secret of his love for the Dark Knight, having publicly announced his eagerness to play the iconic role at several points over the past year or so. Meanwhile, DC Studios head James Gunn has launched his new DC Universe, which will eventually see the arrival of Andres Muschietti's "The Brave and the Bold." The film will pair Batman with his son Damian Wayne/Robin, and Ritchson fans are keen to see the "Reacher" star appear as the former. At /Film, we love the idea so much that we even compiled the top five reasons why Ritchson should play Batman.

As part of his campaign to land the role, you might expect Ritchson to draw as many parallels as possible between Jack Reacher, his most significant and best-known role, and the Dark Knight himself. But it seems that, in some ways, the actor actually sees a famous Batman rogue sharing certain similarities with Reacher.

The character of Jack Reacher, who was originally created by author Lee Child, was designed with many facets that would appeal to action fans and, well, dads. He's a hulking action hero with a sharp mind and a preternatural sense of justice. So committed to the idea of doing what's right is this character that, in the first season of "Reacher," he goes out of his way to rescue a dog from an abusive owner in a storyline that serves no purpose beyond demonstrating his inability to countenance even the smallest injustice.

It's this element that moved a Bro Bible interviewer to confront Ritchson with an interesting take on Jack Reacher and his similarity to a legendary Batman villain. Asked for his thoughts on the idea that The Joker is "the embodiment of pure unbridled chaos" and Reacher is the embodiment of "a supernatural manifestation of justice," while both characters "just appear at the right moment to either raise hell or save the day," Ritchson responded in agreement. "I totally agree with that," he said.

It's an interesting response from Ritchson, if only because you might have expected him to find a way to turn the point more towards Batman than Joker. The comparison between Batman and Reacher's sense of justice is right there, after all. And there are several other comparisons Ritchson could have made in that regard — especially since he went on to tell the outlet that the fact people are interested in him playing Batman "is a real honor and privilege," and that, "It's one of the first characters I fell in love with as a child."

While the comparison between Jack Reacher and the Joker is an interesting one, there are clearly more parallels between Reacher and the Dark Knight. Aside from his physical prowess, one major character trait unites the two, and it's exactly the trait Ritchson himself identified when talking to The Hollywood Reporter. "Here's the thing about Batman," he said. "You know what his superpower is? Intelligence. He's the smartest superhero there is; he's inventive and has all the gadgets and stuff, but he's just super smart." The same can very much be said of Jack Reacher, who balances his imposing physicality with a shrewd mind, as demonstrated throughout the Prime Video series.

In "Reacher" we've seen Ritchson's hero remain one step ahead of his foes while gaining insight into Reacher's military past, which saw him solving multiple complex cases and thwarting sophisticated criminals within the Army's ranks. We also saw him overcome the absolute giant of a man known as Paulie (Olivier Richters) in Season 3, not by beating him with brawn but by sabotaging the gun Paulie uses. Batman might not share Jack Reacher's atypical sense of humor, but intelligence is one of the most salient aspects of both characters.

If Alan Ritchson lands the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne, it won't be the first time he appears in an on-screen DC universe. Ritchson starred as Hank Hall/Hawk in DC's "Titans," which "Reacher" fans will enjoy simply for the fight scenes. He also started his career as "Smallville's" Aquaman, so seeing him as Batman would be a nice way to bring his career full circle. Thus far, we've got an unexpected first look at the DCU's Batman via HBO's "Creature Commandos," which serves as an animated sequel series to Gunn's 2021 film, "The Suicide Squad." That brief glimpse revealed very little, however, and merely helped build anticipation for an official Batman reveal down the line. If it turns out that Ritchson does get the part, it won't necessarily be all that surprising, but if Gunn does want to shake things up, casting the man as Joker would, at the very least, be a great way of doing that.