For as much as “Reacher” prides itself on being faithful to Lee Child’s source material (especially compared to Tom Cruise’s “Jack Reacher” films), Ritchson isn’t so much of a purist that he’s against breaking canon and bringing back Roscoe and Finlay. As he told Hall:
“I would for sure. I would be a huge fan of that. I think we should. I think we should at some point. They were just too good. We’re building a world here, and although this is an anthology, to be able to remind the audience that this is a real journey that he’s taken and there are some people that are still there, I think could be a lot of fun. Yeah, I hope we can do that at some point.”
That’s not to suggest anything goes so far as Ritchson is concerned. When asked if he sees “Reacher” as a “parallel world” to the books, the actor said he doesn’t, stating, “I think that we are being very authentic to the books.” He added that the show only strays from the novels “with a really heavy heart” for a specific storytelling purpose, like “to expand on things like secondary characters that weren’t really focused on in the book enough to give us a series’ worth of content.”
Ritchson’s comments echo what showrunner Nick Santora previously said on the matter about not forcing in familiar characters or doing anything that “messes up the lore of ‘Reacher.'” On the other hand, considering how openly devastated Child was about Roscoe’s storyline being done after season 1, it seems there won’t be any objections from him, should the show find an organic excuse to catch up with her and Finlay down the road.
“Reacher” season 2 premieres December 15, 2023, on Prime Video.