Published Feb 8, 2026, 12:55 PM EST
Padraig is a Senior Features Writer and has been part of Screen Rant since 2017. Padraig is a writer, editor and retired Game of Thrones extra who has been writing about movies and TV online for over a decade. He has also written for The Irish Times, Den Of Geek, Little White Lies and many more. It's pronounced Paw-rick, BTW.
Alan Ritchson is worried Reacher season 4 might have too much action - and he could be right. The Lee Child Jack Reacher books are an addictive blend of creative murder mystery and 1980s action movie. That's partly why Tom Cruise's Reacher casting never sat well with the fanbase, as he just didn't fit the image readers had of Jack.
Alan Ritchson has proven spot on, with the show proving so popular it's even getting a spinoff with the upcoming Neagley. Ritchson will return for the latter, while Reacher season 4 will adapt Gone Tomorrow. This novel sees Reacher get sucked into a complex mystery with political implications - and it evolves into a very personal mission for Jack.
Alan Ritchson Is Worried Reacher Season 4 Has Too Many Fights
Gone Tomorrow has some terrific setpieces, including the finale where Reacher tracks down the villains to their secret lair. That said, it's reasonably light on action for a good chunk of the plot. After a tense opening chapter on a subway with a potential suicide bomber, it becomes a detective story for a long stretch.
That's what makes Ritchson's recent comments to Screen Rant a little odd. He sounds concerned that Reacher season 4 might have too many fights, with the star estimating about 30 bouts throughout the eight-episode season.
We shot... God, I don't even know, man. 30? We've never shot this many fights. There's so many. And it's not just that we're just going for the sake of it. I worry about fight fatigue for audiences. I watch my wife watch Game of Thrones, and I am yawning my way through it, and then the fights start. I'm like, 'Now it's getting good.' The fights start, and she's like, 'Oh, wake me up when the fights are done.' And I'm like, 'What is that?' I don't ever want somebody to disengage because they're just seeing all the fights in the world thrown on screen.
While past seasons have featured healthy doses of fisticuffs and shootouts, they never overloaded episodes with action either. The way Ritchson makes it sound, there will be near-constant fights throughout, which seems to go against the more measured pace of the source material.
Reacher's Season 4 Concerns Could Prove Accurate
Again, Gone Tomorrow has action, including Reacher getting into scraps with various pursuers. Past seasons also upped the fight quotas from the novels being adapted, but the fourth series sounds like it's cranking up the dial a lot.
Ritchson has become so comfortable with the fight sequences that watching him put boot to ass is never an issue. Even so, nobody - even Reacher fans - wants to see action for the sake of it, or to inject excitement in a flagging storyline.
Ritchson sounds aware of this and also stated that there are "stakes and a reason" for each one. Says the star, "We've set a record for the amount of fights that we've done this season, but all for good reason." Hopefully, this will prove accurate when Reacher season 4 (which still has no release date) arrives on Prime.
Gone Tomorrow Features One Of The Best Fights From The Reacher Books
Without digging too deep into spoilers for Gone Tomorrow, the novel ends with a bloody and satisfying showdown with the main villains. It all resolves itself with a knife fight, which is intensely visceral and kind of scary, since Reacher himself isn't very good with knives.
If Reacher's next outing builds to the ending the way Child's 2009 book does, this fight will be worth the wait. Stuffing 30 or so brawls into one season feels like overkill, but Ritchson himself sounds confident they work for the overall story. We'll find out at some point in 2026 if he's right.
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Created by Lee Child, Christopher McQuarrie, Nick Santora
First Film Jack Reacher
Latest Film Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
First TV Show Reacher
Latest TV Show Reacher
Upcoming TV Shows Neagley
The Reacher franchise is a crime-action universe adapted from Lee Child’s best-selling Jack Reacher novels. It includes two theatrical films and a streaming television series, each centering on the titular ex-military investigator, Jack Reacher, known for his strategic mind and brute strength. The franchise also features the upcoming spin-off series Neagley, which focuses on one of Reacher’s closest allies.
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English (US) ·