Fast X introduces a new character played by Reacher star Alan Ritchson, and his command of the screen proves that he’s perfect to play Aquaman again.

The following contains spoilers for Fast X, now playing in theaters.

Fast X reunites several members of Dom Toretto’s family, not to mention a few familiar foes, as well. There are also some brand-new antagonists that plague the heroes, one of whom seems to initially be a good guy. Ironically, he’s portrayed by someone who once played a superhero, and it may be time for him to do so again.

Alan Ritchson’s star has grown to become increasingly bright, though many still remember him as Arthur Curry/Aquaman in the DCTV series Smallville.

Ironically, he may be perfect to play the character again in the rebooted DC Universe, especially given some of the changes with his Fast X co-star. With Ritchson thriving on television once more, it’s time for the star of Reacher to swim once again — this time on the big screen.

The Fast Saga’s Newest Villain Commands the Screen in Fast X

Alan Ritchson plays Aimes in Fast X, with the character initially seeming to be a lawful good citizen working for The Agency. A replacement for Kurt Russell’s missing Mr. Nobody, Aimes is the first to believe that Dominic Toretto and his crew have gone rogue after an incident in Rome.

He believes they’ve consistently been given too long a rope, with the group namely being “friendly” with criminals such as Deckard Shaw. For this reason, he pledges to take Toretto down, and while he at one point starts helping him, this is revealed to be a ruse. A partner in crime with main antagonist Dante Reyes, Aimes wants to show how corrupt The Agency had become.

Both Ritchson and Jason Momoa’s performances are the highlight of the movie, with Aimes questioning the franchise’s outlandish events. From defying the laws of gravity to Dom’s penchant for adding even enemies to his growing family, Aimes is almost a cynical voice of reason.

Ritchson’s line feels true and organic, and he has a lot of charisma to match his muscles. This makes sense given the actor’s rise to prominence, as the past several years have only increased his roles and screen time.

Unfortunately, most of this has been on the small screen, with only a brief role in The Hunger Games affording Ritchson some cinematic stardom. That could change, however, assuming he makes a way back to DC amid the company’s pending reboot.

Alan Ritchson’s Growing Popularity Could See Him Return as Aquaman

The cinematic shared universe once known as the DC Extended Universe is being rebooted, with the storyline of The Flash being used as a vehicle to do so. There are several rumors concerning what elements of the former DCEU will be kept, namely as it relates to casting.

One such rumor is that Jason Momoa is done as Aquaman, with the actor instead being recast as Lobo. While this rumor is unconfirmed given the upcoming release of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, it would free the character up to be played by someone different. If that happens, Alan Ritchson could return to the character that put him on several fans’ radars.

Ritchson played Aquaman on Smallville across several episodes, with this being the first big-time live-action adaptation of the character. More recently, Ritchson even played Hawk on the unrelated DCTV series Titans.

While his interpretation of the King of Atlantis was somewhat hampered by the scope of the series, Ritchson could easily bring an even more faithful version of the hero to life on the big screen in James Gunn’s rebooted DC Universe.

There, his matter-of-fact attitude as both Jack Reacher and Aimes would be perfect for the headstrong King of the Sea, namely if the rebooted Aquaman is based on Peter David’s iconic bad attitude-having hook-hand version from the comic books of the 1990s.

Aquaman will need a fairly popular actor to portray him in the new universe, both to ease people away from Momoa’s image and to keep the “talk to fish” jokes far away. Putting the unmitigatedly cool Alan Ritchson in that role once more could easily accomplish this, taking a rising star and allowing him run rampant in the depths of the DC Universe.