Who would win in a showdown between these two American heroes?

THE BIG PICTURE

 Jack Reacher and Jack Ryan are both beloved literary characters who have undergone successful adaptations in film and television.
 Neither character is a superhero and their relatability stems from their mortality and faith in others.
 Due to his hulking physique, Reacher would likely beat Ryan in a physical showdown, but due to their morality, it’s unlikely that the two would ever come to blows.

Even if a casual reader might have a hard time differentiating them, Jack Reacher and Jack Ryan couldn’t be more different as characters. Reacher is an ex-military police officer who has grown cynical through his experience, and begins working outside official institutions to maintain justice.

Ryan is more of an analyst than an action hero and works within the government itself to find peaceful solutions to potentially volatile situations. Although Reacher is the more action-weary veteran and Ryan is less of a field agent, they’ve both had their fair share of close encounters with death throughout their multiple adventures in novels, films, and television adaptations.

With the popular Reacher series starring Alan Ritchson giving us yet another imagining of one of the iconic characters, let’s settle once and for all: Who would win in a fight between Jack Reacher and Jack Ryan?

Reacher

TV-MA

When retired Military Police Officer Jack Reacher is arrested for a murder he did not commit, he finds himself in the middle of a deadly conspiracy full of dirty cops, shady businessmen and scheming politicians. With nothing but his wits, he must figure out what is happening in Margrave, Georgia. The first season of Reacher is based on the international bestseller The Killing Floor by Lee Child.

Release DateFebruary 4, 2022
CastAlan Ritchson , Maria Sten , Malcolm Goodwin , Willa Fitzgerald , Robert Patrick , Serinda Swan
Main GenreAction
Seasons2
Streaming Service(s)Prime Video

Jack Ryan and Jack Reacher Aren’t Superheroes

There’s a reason audiences keep coming back to these characters time and time again; while they both possess extraordinary skills, neither Reacher nor Ryan is a superhero. Their strength and faith in others aren’t derived from any superhuman abilities, and they’re often more relatable than other “action heroes” who don’t deal with the same existential issues. Both characters were created by former servicemen who used their novels to tackle recent political issues.

Lee Child was a former military police officer who used the first Reacher novel, Killing Floor, to address the aftermath of the Gulf War, and Tom Clancy was briefly in the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps before exploring the aftermath of the Cold War in the Jack Ryan novel, The Hunt For Red October. Both franchises have expanded far beyond their original creator’s vision to incorporate spinoffs and adaptations.

In 2022, Prime Video’s new take on Reacher proved to be more successful than the films starring Tom Cruise. Its success and quick renewal sparked comparisons to another hit show from the network: Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.

Although Ryan’s story has been the subject of many film adaptations, the John Krasinski-led series offered a fresh take on the character that reintroduced him into the modern era. Following Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan conclusion in 2023, it’s interesting to look at how these two literary icons have fared against each other over the years.

Jack Ryan Was Introduced in Tom Clancy’s ‘The Hunt for Red October’

Clancy’s 1984 novel The Hunt For Red October was an instant critical hit and topped the New York Times Bestsellers List. While it seemed like there was finally an American hero who could rival James Bond, Ryan is more of a low-level idealist than a slick charmer.

The novel was noted for its conservative themes, and how its balanced political perspective promoted the “American dream” without idealizing the military-industrial complex.

It inspired 20 additional novels by Clancy, Mark Greaney, Mike Maden, and Marc Cameron, and has also inspired spinoffs focusing on the characters John Clark and Jack Ryan Jr.

Both Reacher and Ryan Are Independent and Intelligent

By comparison, Reacher is a much more recent phenomenon. While Killing Floor was acclaimed for its detailed analysis of PTSD and military ethics, Child’s series only grew in popularity over the next few decades.

Child has remained the exclusive author behind the ongoing series, with the 29th installment, In Too Deep, set for an October 2024 release. Like Clancy, Child’s balance of mystery and political intrigue has been praised for tackling current issues without limiting the genre-focus of the narratives.

Both Ryan and Reacher are fiercely independent. Ryan often struggles to have his voice heard amidst bureaucracy, and Reacher’s experience has made him cagey about trusting others. While both men have respect for those that they’ve served alongside, they are hardly the type of men who would follow blind orders.

Ryan may humbly claim that he’s simply an analyst, but certain adventures have thrown him into the midst of action, and in the later novels, he was even elected President of the United States. Reacher might seem like he’s all muscle, but his investigative skills make him a detective that’s not to be trifled with.

Jack Ryan and Jack Reacher Have Had Many Different Film and Television Adaptations

Given that it’s a few generations older than Jack Reacher, the Jack Ryan film franchise has gone through many different interpretations. Film is often an appropriate medium to adapt specific Clancy stories, but given the standalone qualities of the novels, it’s never become a “blockbuster series” that rivals James Bond, Jason Bourne, or Mission: Impossible. 1989’s The Hunt For Red October is simply an all-time classic of the submarine genre, but while Alec Baldwin’s interpretation of Ryan added a dash of humility to the CIA’s smartest man, he’s really a supporting character amidst an incredible ensemble that includes Sean Connery, Tim Curry, Stellan Skarsgård, James Earl Jones, Scott Glenn, and Sam Neill.

The series evolved into more of a 1990s action franchise when Harrison Ford inhabited the role for Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger; while they both had an element of mystery, Ford’s battle-weary interpretation of the role was very different from Baldwin’s youthful geekiness.

Unfortunately, Ben Affleck failed to inject life into the series in the 2002 reboot, The Sum of All Fears, which attempted to “modernize” the character by turning him into a womanizing, quippy action hero. While Chris Pine did a much better job in the sorely underrated Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, the film’s meager box-office performance prevented him from appearing in any additional sequels.

Longtime fans of Child’s novels were skeptical when Tom Cruise was cast in the 2012 film Jack Reacher, which was an adaptation of the novel One Shot. Reacher is known for his physicality, and Cruise isn’t quite 6 feet tall.

However, Jack Reacher was a much darker action film than Cruise’s recent projects and marked his first collaboration with director Christopher McQuarrie before he took over the Mission: Impossible series. Unfortunately, Edward Zwick failed to capitalize on this unique series with the 2016 sequel Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, which fell into action movie clichés and didn’t capture Child’s nuanced subversiveness.

Both Ryan and Reacher have fared much better on television; instead of condensing complex mysteries into a two-hour film, the shows have been able to flesh out their backstories and explore the supporting characters within their universes.

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan found an interesting way to update the character for the era of drone strikes, whistleblowers, and extremist groups, with rumors of a potential spinoff for Michael Peña‘s character, Domingo “Ding” Chavez.

Reacher, on the other hand, reached critical acclaim upon its debut in 2022 and quickly earned a renewal. Given that it’s more of a direct adaptation of Child’s first novel, the series retains the pulpy, action-heavy slant without sacrificing the character’s intelligence.

Alan Ritchson’s Jack Reacher Would Beat Jack Ryan In a Fight

When it comes to a brawl, Reacher’s hulking physique would probably crush poor Ryan. Ford’s version of the character might be able to give Cruise’s Reacher a good fight, but there’s no way that Baldwin’s Ryan could last a few minutes with Alan Ritchson’s Reacher.

However, it seems unlikely that these two characters would ever come to blows —they’re both intelligent men who look for justice where they can find it, and they fear putting innocent lives in danger.

All in all, it’s interesting to note how both characters have evolved over the years. Calling the Jack Ryan franchise “better” seems unfair, as it has simply had more time to adopt new voices and explore the character’s depth.

It’s safe to say that the Jack Reacher series will do the same thing in the next few decades. Fans of both franchises can rest assured that these characters are now in their prime again, and they both have many exciting adventures in the near future.