From Reacher to Fast X, Alan Ritchson is on a journey to the top of the Hollywood summit. With each passing year, the roles get bigger and better as the industry and fans realise he’s more than the hilarious jock Thad Castle from Blue Mountain State or the beefy Arthur Curry from Smallville.

Now, with the release of Reacher Season 2 on the horizon, Ritchson is ready to emphasise his action man credentials and perhaps secure one of the most coveted roles in the business: Batman.

Fortress of Solitude caught up with Alan Ritchson to chat about Kevin Smith’s comments about Reacher being “Batman without a cape,” as well as his thoughts about playing the Dark Knight on the big screen.

In addition, the actor revealed his approach to playing Jack Reacher and how he prefers to trust Lee Child’s novels rather than try to craft his own version of the character.

Fortress of Solitude: Last year, Kevin Smith called your Reacher “Batman without a cape.” Now, Reacher doesn’t have any gadgets or infinite funds to fall back on, so who actually is the toughest S.O.B. between Reacher or Batman, or do you still have a bit of a soft spot for Batman?

Alan Ritchson: [Laughs].With all the rumours flying that I’m supposed to be playing Batman, how can I knock Batman? I would love to play Batman. You know, [Batman without a cape] is a great analogy, actually.

But I mean, Batman has got like a cave, and Reacher doesn’t even have a house. He’s got a toothbrush. So, I think Batman has got cool stuff. Dude is loaded and has caves, penthouses, and spotlights that call him. Batman’s cooler.

[Laughs].

But I mean, Reacher would be harder to go down in a fight. Just him and his toothbrush, and [Batman] be like, “Damn, he’s holding on. It’s been 30 minutes.” So, it would be fun.

I interviewed author Lee Child recently, and he said that he doesn’t actually want to tell you how to play Reacher. He prefers to give you the space to play the character the way that you deem fit. So, considering how many books there are already for the character and the meaty backstory, do you find yourself referring back to the novels or do you try craft something different yourself?

Alan Ritchson: I definitely don’t want to try something myself. [Laughs]. No, I cannot be trusted with creative decisions. I need 26 or more books for me to take on a role.

No, I mean, he did a really great job of filling out who this character was for me. His behaviours, mannerisms, thought process, his personality, his quirks, his what makes them fallible or not … It’s all in the books.

Funny enough too, as I was reading the books, you get to know the character right away, and you’re like, oh, I see why this is such a hit. And then you just enjoy the adventures. And you’re like, I see Reacher in Berlin.

I see Reacher in the Midwest. I see him in the desert. This is all fun. And then I noticed around book 17, Lee seemed to have gotten bored with just telling those stories, and started to get into a bit more of the minutiae of who he is, and what he looks like.

And you start getting things like he’s balding and losing hair in the front, and he’s aged him. He started to get into these details about kind of the way he moves, the way he maths, and I felt like I learned actually more about who Reacher was, as far as my performance goes, from the last six books.

But no, there’s enough there for me to just get out of the way of Reacher and embrace what Lee put together. And kudos to him; he really has never micromanaged at all. And I can’t say that for everybody involved. [Laughs].

There are a lot of people who they see their Reacher, and they want to make sure that their Reacher is on screen. And Lee has got the most right to lay claim to that, and he’s never said it a thing.