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After the victorious release of Prime Video’s Reacher in February of this year, fans of the show were welcomed by the excellent news that Prime Video has almost immediately renewed the show for a second season. This show has a mix of an excellent cast, good source material, plenty of action, and an intellectually stimulating plot. The second season promises us more of the same, and with plenty of books left, we can hopefully have more screen time for Alan Ritchson.
When Is Reacher Season 2’s Release Date and What Streaming Service Is It On?
As of right now, the exact release date has not been released yet. As seen on the official Reacher Instagram account filming for Season 2 started in September 2022 and is expected to release sometime during Spring 2023. Given the speed at which the series was approved for Season 2 and the impressive fan response, we can expect it to be bigger and better than ever.
As with the previous season, Reacher Season 2 will be debuting exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in all markets. This is a boon to the international audience of Lee Child’s books as it is available on one platform, and you do not have to use a VPN or hunt down an alternative streaming service like many other shows.
Who Is in the Cast of Reacher Season 2?
As the series is still filming we haven’t yet determined who each of the new cast members will be playing yet, but we do have a fairly complete cast list for series regulars and even a few guest stars. This includes Alan Ritchson returning as the main massive 6’5 protagonist even though he is ‘only’ 6’3. Also returning is Maria Sten as Frances Neagley, Reacher's former colleague who we saw in season 1. Additional series regulars include Rory Cochrane (Encounter) as Shane Langston, Ferdinand Kingsley (Victoria) as the mysterious A.M., and Serinda Swan (Graceland) as Karla Dixon. Shaun Sipos (Outer Range) will also be joining Season 2 as the character David O'Donnell. That rounds up the series' regular cast, but there have also been quite a few guest stars scheduled to appear as well.
These guest stars include Domenick Lombardozzi (The Family) as Guy Russo, Luke Bilyk (Degrassi: The Next Generation) as Calvin Franz, Dean McKenzie (Shooter) as Stan Lowery, Edsson Morales (At Risk) as Manuel Orozco, Andrés Collantes (A Million Little Things) as Jorge Sanchez, Shannon Kook (The 100) as Tony Swan, Ty Olsson (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) as Saropian, Josh Blacker (The Wall) as Hortense Fields, and Al Sapienza (The Sopranos) as Marsh. Notable all of these actors and guest actors are expected to appear in the first episode of the series, but it is likely that they may be spread out. Either way, it seems that the Amazon Prime Video series is more than willing to go abroad to fight all sorts of notable talent for even guest star roles.
What Happened in the Last Season of Reacher?
The first season of Reacher is based on Lee Child’s debut book Killing Floor. The main plots follow an ex-army military investigation Jack Reacher accidentally finding that his brother has been murdered in the quiet town of Margrave, Georgia. After promising to get payback, vengeance, and justice he teams up with local police officers Roscoe Conklin and Oscar Finley to uncover a massive underground counterfeiting operation with links to South America. The operation was funded and assisted by several South American factions, as well as the Kilner foundation which essentially owned Margrave. In just a few days Reacher completely upends the whole town, takes out a few corrupt leaders, gets some nice closure for Roscoe, and looks absolutely amazing while kicking far too much behind.
Which Book Will This Season of Reacher Be Based On?
This season of Reacher is based on the 11th book of the Jack Reacher book series Bad Luck and Trouble. Yes, this skips 10 books in between the first season and the second season of the TV show, which for the book lover that I am is a slight bit cringe. Nevertheless, it seems that the 11th book is an excellent choice for good source material. The synopsis of the book starts off by saying
From a helicopter high above the empty California desert, a man is sent free-falling into the night…. In Chicago, a woman learns that an elite team of ex–army investigators is being hunted down one by one.... And on the streets of Portland, Jack Reacher—soldier, cop, hero—is pulled out of his wandering life by a code that few other people could understand. From the first shocking scenes in Lee Child’s explosive new novel, Jack Reacher is plunged like a knife into the heart of a conspiracy that is killing old friends…and is on its way to something even worse.
From the casting information that we have seen it is likely that the series will follow a similar pattern, but as with the first season of Reacher and most book adaptations there are virtually always significant differences in the writing from the book and the series itself.
What Do We Know About Reacher Season 2?
David O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos), Karla Dixon (Serinda Swan) were both a part of Reacher’s investigation unit and presumably some of the ones being targeted by the unknown conspiracy that Reacher will be fighting. In fact, the entire team will be shown, but it is unsure whether it will be in flashbacks or not. This includes Calvin Franz, Stan Lowery, Manuel Orozco, Jorge Sanchez, and Tony Swan. Outside of Reacher’s unit we have A.M (Ferdinand Kingsley) has been described as a ‘ghost,’ and he is a mercenary that will likely be up for hire. Could be working with the good guys, but probably not. Lastly, we see Shane Langston (Rory Cochrane) who will be a former New York detective who works as the chief of security for a private security firm.
It seems that the primary location for this season will be in New York City, as several of the season regulars and guest stars are former or current New York Police Department members. For those who were fans of the show's fun and bluesy soundtrack in season 1, it will be interesting to see how or if Jack Reachers' love of music will translate to New York City.