Reacher’s Alan Ritchson as DCU Batman Is Fan-Casting at Its Worst

It’s that time of year again. Reacher returns with a new season on Prime Video and DC. Then fans begin shouting from the rooftops that Alan Ritchson should play Batman in the DC Universe. It’s not hard to see why fans want Ritchson as the DCU’s Batman. That’s exactly why it’s a terrible idea.

Alan Ritchson already plays Batman on Reacher, just without the mask.

Some of the laziest superhero fan-castings are when an actor is picked solely because their most famous (or recent) role is a carbon copy of the hero, just without the costume. Jack Reacher is basically Batman. Let’s break it down.

Reacher and Batman both have extensive training. Reacher’s is with the military, while Batman trained around the world. They’re not afraid to take matters into their own hands (a.k.a. vigilante justice), although they will work with the cops if needed. There’s more often than not a competent, but also beautiful woman helping them along. Oh, and they always look out for the little guy.

Bluntly: Reacher is Batman without the gadgets, butler, and Batcave. This means that Ritchson is only being considered for Batman because of Reacher. If some other actor had been cast, then he’d be the one fans want to see play the Dark Knight. It’s so lazy. It’s casting based not on talent, but convenience.

It would be great to see Ritchson in the DCU, just not as Batman. Honestly, it doesn’t even seem like Ritchson really wants to be Batman either. If he’s going to dive into the DC world for a third time (after Aquaman in Smallville and Hawk in Titans), it’s possible he wants something different from both Reacher and those past superhero roles. Maybe an anti-hero, or even crushing it as a villain.

These meme fan-castings need to die. Ritchson doesn’t need to play Reacher in a batsuit. What he needs is a role that will test him as an actor and allow him to flex some skills that fans may not know he even has. When a fan finds that DC character, well, that’ll be a casting to get behind.