Why Alan Ritchson Was Written Out Of His DC Superhero Role - And Why It Didn't Upset Him

On "Reacher," Alan Ritchson plays a vigilante with bruiser brawn, a keen intelligence that he puts to use for detective work, and a stony exterior. So, little surprise that Ritchson is a popular pick to play Batman — and it's a role he wants, too. Ritchson is a dead ringer for the super-muscular 6' 9 Bruce Wayne from the mega-popular "Absolute Batman" comic series by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta. With an animated "Absolute Batman" on the way, perhaps Ritchson can lend his voice to this younger, rougher Dark Knight.

It wouldn't be the first DC Comics role on his resume, either. He appeared in the live-action Superman prequel "Smallville" as Arthur "AC" Curry, the future Aquaman (a role that "Reacher" Season 3 brought back memories of). About a decade later, Ritchson joined the cast of "Titans" as the avian-themed superhero Hawk, alongside Minka Kelly as Hawk's crime-fighting partner, Dove. 

Ritchson left "Titans" during Season 3 due to budget reasons and to slim down a sprawling cast. That season loosely adapted the "Batman: Under the Hood" storyline and had the dead Robin Jason Todd (Curran Walters) return to life as the murderous Red Hood. Hawk ended up a casualty of the Red Hood's rampage. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in 2021, Ritchson wasn't bitter about exiting "Titans" even if it hadn't been his call: "The decision was made for me, and it was for the best. I think the show has improved significantly in the third season because the storylines have been focused, the cast has been tightened and slimmed down, and we're now getting the best of what Titans can do."

Created in 1968 by Steve Ditko (the co-creator of Spider-Man) and Steve Skeates, Hawk and Dove's motif is more than only avian. It's a play on political terminology, a hawk being someone who favors wars and conflict while a dove avoids them. The characters' own personalities correspond to this. Before "Titans," the duo's biggest TV role was in a self-titled episode of "Justice League Unlimited," where they fittingly battled Ares (Michael York), the Greek God of War, alongside Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg). Ritchson, who resembles a 6 '3 wall of muscle, had the right look to play the brawny Hawk.

"My initial deal was for two episodes, and I had a separate deal for a 'Hawk and Dove' spin-off," said Ritchson to EW. Hawk and Dove first appear in "Titans" Season 1 Episode 2, "Hawk and Dove," and Episode 3, "Origins," portrayed as members of an old, disbanded Titans team alongside Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites), who had tried to settle down and retire. It didn't take.

"When we shot those two episodes, they really enjoyed us as Titans and invited us to join more episodes in the back half of the first season. I said, 'Of course, but if we do that probably means we're going to be enmeshed in this group, and there will probably not be a Hawk and Dove show,'" Ritchson recalled. "And of course everybody's like, 'No, everybody loves Hawk and Dove. There's going to be a spin-off.' I was like, 'All right. We'll see.'" 

Until the end, Ritchson said he "held loosely" to his part on "Titans," since it wasn't originally meant to be. But once he was written out, he still enjoyed getting to fly as Hawk, if only briefly.