The teaser of Reacher season 3 has given audiences a first look at the title character’s latest enemy, the hulking bodyguard Paulie. Amazon’s adaptation cast Alan Ritchson in the lead, with the star working hard to live up to the human tank described in Lee Child’s Reacher books. Ritchson has proved perfect casting, but the first two seasons exposed a problem – none of the villains have felt like a credible threat to the nomadic avenger. That is set to change, with Reacher season 3 adapting Persuader, where Jack makes an enemy of the terrifying bodyguard named Paulie.

In both stature and actions, Paulie is a total monster. He’s also described as standing well over 7 feet and weighing 300 lbs, and Paulie completely towers over Reacher himself. The teaser for Reacher season 3 heavily centers on the upcoming showdown between Paulie and Reacher, with the series giving Ritchson’s hero a genuine physical threat for the first time. If the show is faithful to their big fight in Persuader, it will be the most grueling setpiece of the Amazon series thus far.

Paulie Looks Great In Reacher Season 3 (It Could’ve Easily Gone Wrong)

Reacher is in serious trouble with season 3’s Paulie

Paulie will be played by the positively gigantic Dutch bodybuilder Olivier Richters, who is even taller and heavier than how Persuader described the character. Even from the brief glimpse from the teaser, Paulie looks incredible. The bodyguard needs to appear like he could smash through a brick wall, and be able to rip Reacher apart with his bare hands. There is a version of season 3 that would have tried too hard and ended up making the henchman look silly, but when Reacher punches Paulie and the guy barely flinches, it feels like the first time Jack himself seems worried.

Child created the Jack Reacher character as a power fantasy for readers, who can think, punch, and shoot his way out of any problem. That can feel samey if the character never faces a true challenge – this is what made Paulie so memorable in the seventh novel. He’s a force of nature, and during their final showdown, it feels possible that Reacher could die. Bringing Paulie into live-action was always going to be a tall order (literally), but the teaser makes it look like the showrunners have nailed that challenge and then some.

Brian Tee – who played The Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows – plays Quinn in Reacher season 3.

Is Paulie The Main Villain Of Reacher Season 3?

Paulie isn’t the only threat facing Reacher this time

Promotion for Reacher’s third season is very much focused on Paulie and the threat he poses, but he’s ultimately not the villain. Reacher takes the undercover assignment to seek revenge on a former Army intelligence officer named Quinn, who Reacher believed dead for many years. In Persuader, Quinn is more of a shadowy threat, with Reacher’s actual boss being Zachary Beck (Anthony Michael Hall), who is using his rug importer business to smuggle other, far more illegal items into the country.

Paulie is going to be a major talking point in Reacher season 3, but he’s just one of several problems the main character has to juggle.

Persuader is a unique novel, in that much of the story sees Reacher having to method act as an enforcer while trying to rescue a kidnapped DEA agent. He’s never more than a step ahead of his bosses too, with Paulie in particular taking an intense dislike to him. Paulie is going to be a major talking point from Reacher season 3, but he’s just one of several problems the main character has to juggle throughout season 3.