Witnessing someone pulling off a better job in a certain role in comparison to action star Tom Cruise is extremely rare, but this was the case for Amazon’s Reacher.

After being done with one of the best entries in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Cruise found himself at the forefront of another major action IP in 2012, Jack Reacher.

Based on Lee Child’s novels, the 2012 adaptation and its sequel in 2016 witnessed the Top Gun star playing the titular character, but the films received a mixed reception and didn’t pull in huge numbers.

However, the retelling of the story in the realm of a TV series with a new lead was far truer to the source material than the movies and was extremely well-received by both fans and critics.

Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher

Alan Ritchson’s fitness schedule helped him replace Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher

Although in most cases Tom Cruise is always the perfect man for the job, in the case of Reacher, Alan Ritchson did a much better job doing justice to the character.

Considering the novels depict Reacher as a heavy-built dude with a height of 6.5 feet, the Fast X star’s Reacher is much more in line with the novels, thanks to his height of 6.2 feet and his fitness. Reflecting on his fitness regimen that helped him in achieving the role and doing Lee Child’s work justice, Ritchson said,
“Here’s the thing, here’s what people need to know, if your lifestyle is one of health and fitness, every day can become a cheat day. It’s about temperance it’s about moderation throughout the day.”
As a result, Alan Ritchson-led Reacher has done huge numbers for Amazon and is currently sitting at a rotten tomatoes score of 92%, proving that he did succeed in replacing the biggest movie star.

Reacher (2022)

Jack Reacher author claimed Tom Cruise was too old for these movies

Although age is not a thing of concern for Tom Cruise as he keeps on elevating his level, not everyone sees eye to eye with the actor, as this was the reason behind his axing from Jack Reacher.

Before Alan Ritchson was appointed to lead the Reacher series, author Lee Child decided to end the Cruise-led franchise after two installments in the Jack Reacher franchise, claiming Cruise was too old to continue. Lee Child explained,

“It sounds extremely patronizing, but I think it’s good for him. He’s too old for this stuff.”

Tom Cruise in and as Jack Reacher

Although Ritchson did more justice to the character than Tom Cruise, thanks to his impressive physique, Cruise has kept on proving why he is the best in the business with bangers after bangers.