Reacher Season 3 Has Finally Cast The Greatest Villain In The Entire Series

Reacher's back — unfortunately, he's not alone. Author Lee Child's airport-paperback novel series famously stars a hero that can only be described as a walking, talking tank. Prime Video's "Reacher" series has neatly translated the franchise's popularity on the page to the streaming era, thanks in large part to Alan Ritchson (recently the scene-stealing star of Guy Ritchie's "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare") as Jack Reacher. A far cry from Tom Cruise's capable (if not even remotely book-accurate) casting in the two movies, Ritchson embodies all the physicality described in the original books. After two successful seasons throughout the last few years, however, Reacher is due for his biggest challenge yet ... speaking extremely literally, of course.

Reacher's greatest enemy now has an equally as formidable actor attached to the role. According to CinemaBlend, the hulking villain known as Paulie will be played by Olivier Richters in all his seven feet, two inches and roughly 350 pounds of brutality. We wouldn't ordinarily go to such extreme measurement detail in casting reports here at /Film but, well, there's absolutely nothing "ordinary" about this one. The news was confirmed by new "Reacher" season 3 addition Anthony Michael Hall, who was previously cast as villainous series regular Zachary Beck. While talking to the outlet, he described Richters' involvement as:

"He reminds me of ... 'The Spy Who Loved Me,' the Jaws character that Richard Kiel played. He was a literal giant, like seven foot two ... That character (Paulie) does live in the show, and they have an epic battle. I don't want to give it away, but yeah, they definitely meet as they do in the book.

You know, Reacher and Paulie colliding — there's something Marvel about that, right? They're like two superhero-sized guys, so it's kind of cool."

It's wholly appropriate that Olivier Richters is already drawing superhero comparisons, since his "Reacher" villain is pretty much the Bane to Reacher's Batman. You've seen him playing various henchman roles in movies like "Black Widow," "The King's Man," and "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," but Richters is set for his biggest role yet as Paul "Paulie" Masserella in season 3 of the Prime Video streaming series. Fans know full well that the character's reputation precedes him, a former cop-turned-bodyguard who now uses his muscles to protect one of the major villains in "Persuader," the "Jack Reacher" novel that serves as the basis for the next season and is commonly considered to be the best novel of the series.

Described by author Lee Child as a meth and steroid user, rapist, and murderer who towers head and shoulders over Jack Reacher, Paulie is also notable for coming the closest of any character in Child's nearly 30-book series to actually killing Reacher with his bare hands. As if that weren't enough, Paulie's bloodthirsty methods and utterly remorseless personality also stands in direct opposition to Reacher's innate sense of justice. Richters' intimidating physicality pretty much speaks for itself, as does his history as a former bodybuilder. In short, expect plenty more images of Reacher bloodied and bruised to come.

Unfortunately, fans are in for a bit of a wait before season 3 arrives. The next installment of "Reacher" comes to Prime Video in 2025.