Reacher’s new character gives Alan Ritchson a run for his money in the height department. The Prime Video series is based on the book series by Lee Child, which follows a former military police major turned drifter as he roams the country helping various people in need. Although the character in the novels is six feet and five inches tall, when they were first adapted to live-action in the 2012 movie Jack Reacher and its 2014 sequel Never Go Back, the five-foot-seven Tom Cruise was cast in the title role.

When the Prime Video show debuted in 2022, one of its most notable changes was returning the character to his original towering height on the page by casting the six-foot-three Ritchson. However, the character may be meeting his match in the upcoming Reacher season 3, which is adapting the 2003 novel Persuader. Notably tall Dutch bodybuilder Olivier Richters has been cast opposite Ritchson in the new season, playing Paulie, a possibly unstable bodyguard who works for the rich Zachary Beck (Anthony Michael Hall).

Olivier Richters Is Nearly A Foot Taller Than Alan Ritchson’s Reacher

The Incoming Actor Is More Than Seven Feet Tall

Incoming Reacher cast member Olivier Richters is seven feet and two inches tall, a stature that has earned him the moniker “The Dutch Giant.” Although Ritchson’s Jack typically towers over the other characters around him, using his size and strength to bowl over enemies, Richters stretches an additional 11 inches above his already considerable height. Below, see how Ritchson and Richters’ heights compare to the reported heights of the entire confirmed cast for season 3, which also includes the famously tall Hall:

Actor
Character
Height

Alan Ritchson

Maria Stern
Frances Neagley
Unknown

Anthony Michael Hall
Zachary Beck
6′ 1″

Sonya Cassidy
Agent Susan Duffy
5′ 7″

Brian Tee
Quinn
5′ 9″

Johnny Berchtold
Richard Beck
5′ 8″

Roberto Montesinos
Agent Guillermo Villanueva
Unknown

Daniel David Stewart
Agent Steven Elliot
Unknown

Olivier Richters
Paulie
7′ 2″

Size has been a key element of the latest Lee Child adaptation from the very beginning, honoring the original Jack Reacher books. The show presenting a character who is even bigger than its lead hero is a major development that will provide him with more of a physical challenge than he’s ever had before. This is something that will be immediately apparent when the show’s visual schema immediately shifts away from having Reacher himself be the tallest person in the room when the new season begins. This will occur even before it becomes apparent whether Paulie is a direct threat.

However, Paulie will pose an existential threat to Jack Reacher in addition to a physical one, as the hero will have to completely reconfigure his typical approach to problem-solving. This will force him to reconsider his own character and possibly alter his view of himself as he reevalutates his strongest assets and how best to wield them when facing off against this new enemy. This will provide the perfect character-based material to amplify the narrative of Persuader, which features a slightly more low-stakes plot than the previous novels that the show has adapted.

Where You Know Paulie’s Actor Olivier Richters From

The Incoming Reacher Star Has Appeared In Several Prominent Projects

Reacher is going to provide Richters with one of his biggest roles yet. Because he did not begin his career as an actor, he does not have a particularly long resume at the time of writing. In fact, he only has three credits from before 2018, with those being entirely in European television and film projects. However, in spite of the fact that his English-language roles have largely been minor supporting performances, he has taken on a number of huge, well-known projects in recent years. Below, see a breakdown of some of Richters’ most prominent roles:

Ravers (2018)
Warehouse Guy

Gangs of London (2020)
Duncan

Knuckledust (2020)
Rawbone

Miami Heat (2021)
Olivier

Black Widow (2021)
Ursa

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021)
Journeyman Boxer

The King’s Man (2021)
Huge Machine Shack Guard

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Hauke

Perhaps naturally, considering his size, Richters’ early roles have been quite similar to that of Paulie. They have largely been performances as supporting antagonists who are either the muscle for the primary villain or massive bruisers who present a challenge to the main character as they progress forward through their adventures. However, his prominence increased in 2021 when he played supporting roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe outing Black Widow and the Matthew Vaughn spy movie prequel The King’s Man.

He followed 2021 with one of his most prominent roles yet, starring opposite Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny as the intimidating Hauke, a prominent henchman of the villain Voller (Mads Mikkelsen). Before the release of Reacher season 3, he will also be seen playing the role of Krom in the upcoming video game adaptation Borderlands. He is part of an A-list cast that also includes Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Jamie Lee Curtis, giving him yet another opportunity to raise his profile before taking on a bigger role in the Prime Video show.

Why Paulie Is The Villain Reacher Season 3 Needs

Olivier Richters Is Playing A New Kind Of Reacher Villain

The new Reacher season 3 villain is following the lead of the show’s previous villains in one major way. That would be the fact that he is not directly connected to the plots that were involved in seasons 1 and 2. The show features very few recurring stars beyond Ritchson himself, instead opting to follow the anthology format of the novels and surround the character with a new supporting cast facing their own problems in each new season.

The sheer power of Paulie… will raise the stakes of the new season considerably.

However, there is a major way that Paulie will be different. As much as his size will potentially shake up Reacher’s view of himself, Paulie’s presence will also help shake up the season itself. Reacher season 2 featured villains who were too easily thwarted by the character alongside the 110th Special Investigations Unit, spending a lot of time on setup for a payoff that ultimately came off slightly anticlimactic. The sheer power of Paulie, supporting whichever other antagonist characters may come out of the woodwork, will raise the stakes of the new season considerably.