Reacher’s Persuader Adaptation Means a New Kind of Villain for Season 3

With production on season 3 of Prime Video’s Reacher currently underway, Amazon has officially announced which of Lee Child’s novels this season will be adapting. In a press release, it was revealed that season 3 will tell the story of the seventh Reacher novel Persuader – which sees the titular hero go undercover to take down a drug smuggler, seek revenge for the death of a fallen friend, and fight against someone even bigger than he is. Yes, you read that correctly. There’s a very good chance that TV’s biggest boy, Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson), will have to fight a baddie even bigger than he is this season.

In the novel, Persuader, Reacher stumbles into a job with the DEA after spotting an old enemy, Francis Xavier Quinn, outside of Boston’s symphony hall. Quinn killed two of Reacher’s colleagues years ago, and was presumed dead after the fact. Now, it seems, Quinn is involved with a powerful smuggling ring that runs deeper than Reacher or the DEA first thought.

According to @JenReadsRomance on X (formerly Twitter), Persuader is really the first time we see Reacher out of his depth, but not just with the case. This story also sees Reacher struggle to physically keep up with the bad guys he’s fighting against, which is a pretty big deal for this absolute unit of a man. We’re used to seeing Reacher and his massive muscles take down armed and unarmed assailants with ease, sometimes even with his own hands tied behind his back, but season 3 could change that.

Also of note. Reacher tangles with a giant who is bigger than he is. It's one of the first books where we see…idk, Reacher off his game, I guess? Or Reacher as underdog. It's great. Grade: A+

— J. Alfred Prokop (@JenReadsRomance) December 13, 2023

It’s wild to think that there’s anyone out there, in both the real world and the fictional reality of Reacher, that is beefier than Alan Ritchson and Jack Reacher. And yet, season 3 has the potential to see Reacher face a bad guy even bigger than he is. For once, Reacher may not be able to punch his way out of a situation. It’ll be interesting to see Reacher finally meet his match next season, but until then I’ll be playing Sza’s hit SNL song “Big Boys” on a loop.