Reacher Author Weighs In On The Show Creating Original Stories Not Included In His 29 Novels

Reacher author Lee Child speaks on the prospect of the series exploring original stories not in his 29 novels. Child has been writing Jack Reacher books since 1997, and has since written 29 novels in the franchise. While the protagonist and some characters overlap among the different novels, the books are typically standalone stories that can be read without the other novels. This means that Prime Video's TV show does not have to adapt Child's work in chronological order, which they have not so far. The currently-airing Reacher season 3 adapts Persuader, the seventh novel in the series.

Per Collider, Child speaks on whether he would support the Reacher series expanding beyond the book. In an optimistic answer, Child states that he would "be very open to it." He adds that "the TV writers are terrific writers and great people." If they were to create their own stories in the Child-created universe, he believes that they "would still be true, authentic Reacher stories." Check out the full quote from Child below:

“I’d be very open to it, because I trust the writers. The TV writers are terrific writers and great people, and they know the books very well. So if they did branch out into stories of their own, they would still be true, authentic Reacher stories, just with different plot points than those that occur in the books.”

What This Means For The Reacher Franchise

Reacher Has Adapted The Books So Far

If the mainline Reacher show were to depart from the books, it would be a huge shift for the series. So far, all three seasons of the series have covered one of Child's novels, with the premiere season appropriately starting with the first novel, Killing Floor, season 2 adapting book 11, Bad Luck and Trouble, and season 3 taking on Persuader. This has allowed readers of the novels to see their familiar heroes and villains brought to the screen. The fact that the show's creators have Child's blessing to expand the universe, however, opens up options.

It is good that Child's views things this way, because the Reacher universe will indeed be expanding beyond the books soon. Amazon is at work on a Neagley spinoff titled Neagley, which will not directly follow one of Child's novels. Maria Sten's Frances Neagley was a fan-favorite character in the TV adaptation, leading to the creation of this series. So, the Reacher universe is already planning to expand its plot beyond the books, but Child's statement suggests that he would support this method even in the main series.

Our Take On Reacher Expanding Beyond The Books

It Could Be Safer To Stick To The Script

Reacher (Alan Ritchson) looking at Kohl (Mariah Robinson) while smiling in Reacher Season 3 Ep 4

Assuming the Prime Video series continues on with the one-to-one book-to-season adaptation pace, the main Reacher series would not have an actual need to stray from the source material. Unlike a show like Netflix's The Night Agent, which was forced to go its own way for season 2 given there was only one novel, Reacher still has over two dozen stories to pull from. Given the plethora of content available and the avid fan base, it might be the safer move for the book adaptation series to keep being what it is at its roots — a book adaptation.

Source: Collider