Reacherโs latest episode explores the title characterโs past, but in doing so, may have overlooked its Tom Cruise easter egg from earlier in season 2.
Warning: Major spoilers below for Reacher season 2 episode โBurialโ below!
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- Reacher season 2 avoided a problem with the Tom Cruise movie by revealing the events of โOne Shotโ happened offscreen.
- Episode 5 may have forgotten its โOne Shotโ easter egg, however, since itโs not part of Reacherโs record.
- The possibility of adapting โOne Shotโ in the future is still open, but the series has a wealth of other books to cover.
The latest episode of Reacher may have already contradicted its Tom Cruise movie explanation. Cruise may be one of the biggest movie stars in the world, but to fans of Jack Reacher, he was still nowhere near big enough to play the titular role in the 2012 movie. The character from Lee Childโs novels is a hulking beast, but when producers had a hard time fighting the right combination of star power and physique โ even passing on Dwayne Johnson โ they decided to settle for the former. Jack Reacher is a solid action thriller tautly directed by Christopher McQuarrie, but Cruise still felt wrong for the character.
Reacher season 2 dodged a Cruise movie problem during the second episode, revealing the events of One Shot โ the book adapted for the 2012 film โ happened offscreen. This was the smart choice because while it would have been interesting to see the same story retold with Alan Ritchsonโs Reacher, itโs ultimately a lose-lose proposition. One Shot already has a great adaptation and future series of Reacher have a wealth of books to work from; a re-adaptation might risk appearing like a slight on Cruiseโs work as Reacher too.
