Usually I will end up saving this kind of article until well after a show has ended, given that we usually don’t know how things will pan out in terms of renewal. With Reacher season 3? It’s a bit different.
The show has been such a success for Amazon that star Alan Ritchson got to announce that season 3 of Reacher had already been greenlit before season 2, out last week, had even aired. So there is no handwringing about whether or not season 2 of Reacher performs well enough to get picked up, that was never in question, indicating just how strong of a performer it was for Amazon. And as we know, Reacher is pretty cheap compared to its other offerings, due to its small scale and no need for blockbuster VFX effects. Well, at least not that many. Some CGI explosions and fire, perhaps.
As for what it’s adapting, that gets a little more murky, because the show is not going in any fixed order through the books. While Reacher season 1 did adapt the first book, Killing Floor, season 2 here is the eleventh book, Bad Luck and Trouble, which was released a full 10 years later. There are 26 books total with another one coming next year, so there’s no shortage of source material.
I heard Lee Child talking about this, and he said that he wanted to write the books so you could pick up any of them and not be lost, hence relatively few connecting threads other than Reacher’s general life story. For the show, they said they wanted to focus on his family first, and then in season 2, his professional life, so here we are. Season 3? That’s anyone’s guess right now.
How about a season 3 release date? That we can at least estimate, even if one has not been announced.
Reacher season 1 was released in February of 2022. Reacher season 2 was released in December of 2023. So while yes, that is a long gap, close to two years between seasons, it seems very likely to be accelerated from here, and we won’t have to wait until 2026 for season 3 of Reacher. Because we have season 3 greenlit so soon, it’s likely work has been in progress on that for a long while already. And we know that since Amazon loves this show so much, it’s going to want to put it out as often as it can, as it could run for 25 seasons and still not be out of source material. So I don’t think the two year gaps will continue. My guess is, at max, 1.5 years, which would put it in maybe April-May of 2025. Still a while, but who knows, maybe they can get it down to yearly. Albeit not many show can pull that off these days.
Amazon can be a bit odd with this sort of thing. I’m reminded of another hit, The Terminal List, which was released in July of 2022. Season 2 is not supposed to arrive until some time in 2025. Perhaps in that case it’s due to Chris Pratt being busy as Star Lord and Mario and Garfield and such, but it still seems like an incredibly long wait. Less than Reacher will be. But yes, the important thing, season 3 is guaranteed. It’s just a matter of when.
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