Alan Ritchson Set His Expectations For Reacher Low After His Time On DC's Titans

At 40 years old, Alan Ritchson is finally hitting his stride. What started with a somewhat embarrassing stint on "American Idol" is now blossoming into an impressive on-screen career, with Ritchson currently fronting the chart-topping streaming series "Reacher" on Prime Video. He's since taken his Jack Reacher muscle over to the big screen with "Fast X," and appears to be building himself into a formidable action star.

Ritchson's journey to this point included decent roles in "Smallville," "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot movies of recent years. He also formed part of the superhero team in the now-canceled "Titans," playing Hank Hall/Hawk for two seasons before being killed off in the third. But 2022's "Reacher" was arguably his breakthrough role, establishing its star as a bonafide leading man and capable action hero.

Before it hit Prime Video, however, it wasn't entirely clear that "Reacher" would become the hit it ultimately proved to be. Fans hadn't entirely embraced Tom Cruise as ex-Army man Jack Reacher in the two movies he fronted, prompting the author of the original Jack Reacher books to try his luck with a streaming series. As such, it seems Ritchson went into the whole thing with low expectations. But it wasn't just that Child's itinerant hero was untested on the small screen. In fact, Ritchson's experience on "Titans" actually contributed to his trepidation.

"Reacher" season 2 is set to debut soon, though there's still no official release date. And anticipation is high, as fans eagerly await the return of what they view as a book-accurate depiction of their beloved hero. But prior to the first season's success, Alan Ritchson remained skeptical about how his show would fare, having seen the way things went with "Titans."

DC's attempt at bringing the Teen Titans to the small screen achieved mixed results. Originally debuting on the now-defunct DC Universe streaming service, which was ultimately folded into HBO Max, "Titans" ran from October 2018 up until May 2023, shifting to HBO Max (now just Max) partway through its run. And while Ritchson's character died in the third season, he was around long enough to witness this change of streaming platform prior to season 3.

That meant that when he came to "Reacher," he was wary of how successful this latest venture would be. As he said on The Rich Eisen Show:

"I sort of go into it with the mentality, especially just having come off a DC show where I was on 'Titans,' I played Hawk, and there was this huge Warner Brothers rolling out with DC, this new platform, and they're like, 'This is gonna be monstrous,' and it fizzled out. The platform's not there anymore. It got swallowed up by HBO, it just sort of disappears. You just never know what to expect. And so I sort of just go in expecting that and, you know, manage my expectations."

In hindsight, Ritchson needn't have been so wary. The actor went on to explain how he "walks down the street now and [he's] got 80-year-old grandmas that are like, 'Reacher! Reacher sign this napkin!'" prompting him to remark, "Wow! Everybody is watching this thing."

If you watch Alan Ritchson's audition and subsequent dismissal from "American Idol" and compare it to his recent sober reflections on the reality of Hollywood and its fickle nature, you can see how a couple decades' worth of experience has changed him. And that's ok, because sometimes it takes a while to be truly ready for stardom, and it seems that time for Ritchson has finally arrived.

While his roles in "Smallville," the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, and "Titans" were significant enough, "Reacher" has not only been Ritchson's favorite role to date, it's been his biggest hit. And with his latest appearance in "Fast X," studios are obviously starting to take notice.

As for "Titans," it belongs to an odd place in DC's on-screen history. Popular enough to be renewed for four seasons but always feeling like it never quite hit its stride — unlike its DC Universe contemporary "Doom Patrol," which occupied a similarly odd space in the DC Universe, but seemed to have a much better idea of what it wanted to be from the outset. Unlike "Titans," Ritchson clearly has found his stride, which is nice to see for anyone who's been following his career, and great news for everyone who enjoys watching his characters punch and shoot people really well.