‘Reacher’ Season 2 Is Getting an Almost Entirely New Cast
Alan Ritchson as Reacher
Adapted from Lee Child’s bestselling novels of the same name, Amazon Prime Video’s hit detective show Reacher quickly amassed a dedicated audience when it premiered early in 2022. The series centers on the eponymous Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson), a veteran military police investigator who reenters civilian life in a seemingly idyllic small Georgia town, only to be arrested on suspicion of murder.
The series debuted to both strong reviews and huge streaming numbers last February—it became Amazon’s first show ever to top Nielsen’s streaming ratings—and a second season was greenlit within days. Here’s what we know so far about Reacher’s sophomore run, including its cast and release date.
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What is Reacher Season 2 about?
Season 2 will be based on the eleventh book in Child’s series of novels, which is titled Bad Luck and Trouble. This is an interesting choice, since the first season was (as you’d expect) based on the first novel in the series. It suggests that the Reacher team, led by showrunner Nick Santora, are taking an anthology series approach to their adaptation and crafting each season as an independent story—which also means that viewers can feel free to jump into Season 2 without watching Season 1 first.
According to the official synopsis released by Amazon, Season 2 will kick off with Reacher receiving a coded message which reveals that members of his former U.S. army unit are being systematically hunted down and murdered. This news forces Reacher out of his self-imposed drifter lifestyle, and sees him team up with three former teammates to investigate. The summary continues: “Together, they begin to connect the dots in a mystery where the stakes get higher at every turn, and that brings about questions of who has betrayed them—and who will die next. Using his inimitable blend of smarts and size, Reacher will stop at nothing to uncover the truth and protect the members of his unit. If there’s one thing Reacher and his team know for certain, it’s that you do not mess with the Special Investigators. This season, get ready for Reacher and the 110th to hit back hard.”
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Who's in the Reacher Season 2 cast?
Alan Ritchson
Ritchson had the unenviable task of taking on a role that had most recently been played by Tom Cruise (in the Jack Reacher film series, which ended in 2016), and it’s fair to say he hit it out of the park. In press for the first season, Ritchson talked about the intimidation he felt in taking on the role. “I feel like the myth of who Reacher is has grown so large that there really is no human alive that can fill those shoes,” he told Empire. “I guess we'll see what the fans have to say. It's the right medium to tell this story; we've got enough time to really get to know these characters. There’s nothing rushed about it. We're not trying to pack an entire book into two hours.”
In Season 2, Ritchson will be surrounded by a largely new cast thanks to the anthology series approach. “It’s rather tragic that there’s a chance that I may not see some of them again,” Ritchson admitted in an interview with Collider last year, in reference to his castmates from the first season. “They set the bar so high that we’d be remiss not to see them show again. So, I hope we do. I don’t know how that’ll play out, but that would be one area that we deviate from the books a little bit, I think, to the benefit of audiences, if you see them pop up more.”
Maria Sten
Sten is one of the few supporting cast members from Season 1 who will be returning for the second run. She plays Frances Neagley, a squadmate of Reacher’s from his days in the military police who remains one of his most trusted allies; she was formerly a master sergeant and now works as a security consultant. Per TVLine, the season kicks off with Neagley contacting Reacher using “a signal that only the eight members of their elite team would know” and telling “him a terrifying story about the brutal death of a man they both served with.”
Serinda Swan
Swan joins the cast as Karla Dixona, a forensic accountant and potential love interest for Reacher. She’s described as an “extremely intelligent private investigator who has no problem holding her own in a fight against men much larger than she is.”
Shaun Sipos
Sipos will play David O’Donnell, a “fast-talking, switchblade-wielding family man” who was also a member of the Special Investigators team.
Ferdinand Kingsley
Kingsley plays a mysterious new character who goes by the name A.M. Per the character description, he is referred to by Homeland Security as a “ghost” because he “operates under a number of aliases and can pass for any nationality.”
Robert Patrick
Patrick joins the cast as Shane Langston, a former NYPD detective with a questionable track record, who now works in security for a private defense contractor.
Rory Cochrane was originally cast in this role, but Patrick replaced him ahead of filming due to a scheduling conflict.
Domenick Lombardozzi
Lombardozzi plays a “tough NYPD detective” named Guy Russo, who’s one of the officers assigned to investigate the murders of Reacher’s former military colleagues.
What is the Reacher Season 2 release date?
Reacher Season 2 will premiere on Friday, Dec. 15. In line with Amazon’s usual release format, the show won’t drop all of its episodes at once; instead, the first three will be released on the 15th, with new episodes following weekly on Fridays. The finale is slated to air on Jan. 19, 2024.
Note: A screenshot captured by Alan Ritchson Updates (via Screenrant) suggests that the show might drop earlier than expected, on Dec. 14, but that news hasn't been confirmed by Prime.
How many episodes are in Reacher Season 2?
The season will be eight episodes long, as was season one.
How to watch Reacher Season 2
Reacher is an Amazon original, so it’ll be available to watch exclusively on the Amazon Prime Video platform. After the initial release window, episodes will be available for purchase on other platforms like Apple TV, YouTube and Google Play.
Is there a Reacher Season 2 trailer?
Yes, Amazon released the action-packed trailer for Reacher Season 2 in November, offering a glimpse at the team dynamic between Reacher and the other members of his elite army team, who are referred to in the synopsis as “chosen family.” You can watch the full trailer below:
