How Reacher Is An “American James Bond” (But Better) Explained By Alan Ritchson

Reacher star Alan Ritchson explains how his character is like the American version of James Bond — only better. As the lead of Prime Video’s action thriller, which will soon return for Reacher season 3, the performance has earned Ritchson praise and allowed him to emerge as a featured star in blockbusters such as Fast X. But the actor has a unique take on what makes Reacher so different from other stalwarts of the genre.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly to discuss his role in the upcoming Guy Ritchie film The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Ritchson touched on Reacher and dinged James Bond for being “a little misogynistic and predictable at this point.” The actor also talked about how, compared to Bond, Reacher isn’t quite as aware of how cool he is. Read the full quote below:

It’s funny, I kind of feel like Reacher is the American James Bond. And I’ve never had more fun playing a character. I love those larger-than-life, over-the-top action thrillers and spy movies and the heists that are smart and ahead of the audience. That’s really great, but I feel like Bond, to me personally — people are going to hate me for saying this — I love Bond, but I feel like it’s all a little misogynistic and predictable at this point.

[Bond] can play 4D chess and stay ahead of us and save the world. Reacher, to me, is like the American Bond, and I think it’s a cool way to go about doing it where it’s a little less purposefully cool. He’s not in on how slick he is. I don’t feel like we can have characters these days that are in on the joke. Either they know that they’re funny, they know that they’re smart, they know that they’re very cool or capable or invincible — I feel like it reduces the stakes of stories, and we’ve seen too many movies, we’re too savvy as an audience to be entertained by that.

Reacher Does Have a Lot in Common with Bond

Ritchson is correct in noting that Reacher may not be aware of how cool he is at the level of Bond, but the character’s superiority shows in other ways. Even though Reacher’s friends poke fun at his social ineptitude, his coolness is frequently displayed in the show’s many action scenes. One of the main complaints of Reacher season 2, for example, centered around how there was rarely any question about whether Reacher would win a fight. It’s been argued that this zaps the story of dramatic tension and makes the heroes less fun to root for.

Another point of contention is how Reacher depicts the main character’s love interests. The women in Reacher are capable of defending themselves, as are many Bond girls, but they don’t have much of a connection to the story outside of providing the main character with a romantic outlet. Reacher season 1 did make an effort to show that Roscoe (Willa Fitzgerald) was special to Reacher and gestured to her own aspirations. That was comparatively absent in Reacher season 2 with Dixon (Serinda Swan).

That may not be a problem in and of itself. But if the show continues to introduce new love interests each season without developing them further, it could fairly be accused of the same issues that the Bond franchise has faced in its depiction of women. Fortunately for Reacher, as it enters its third installment, there’s still plenty of time for the popular adaptation to make its seemingly unbeatable hero more vulnerable and flesh out the supporting ensemble further.

Source: EW