Season 3 of Amazon’s Reacher introduces a massive villain who could potentially defeat Jack Reacher in fair hand-to-hand combat.
The new villain, Paulie, poses a serious threat to Jack Reacher’s invincibility, raising the stakes in the upcoming season.
Reacher’s unique formula of an overpowered protagonist is shaken up by the possibility of him losing a straight fight in season 3.

Amazon’s Reacher has already featured several memorable scenes, but season 3’s massive villain potentially sets up one of the most shocking moments of the entire franchise. Based on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books, Reacher has performed incredibly well on Amazon Prime Video so far. Its first two seasons have not only been commercially successful but have also landed positive reviews from both viewers and critics. The show’s success establishes that its unique shtick of portraying an overpowered, giant protagonist has been working wonders.

Given how well Reacher seasons 1 and 2 have performed, season 3 will likely continue leveraging on their established storytelling formulas and tropes. As its cast confirms, season 3 will also mark the return of Maria Sten’s Frances Neagley, who is the only recurring character alongside Alan Ritchson’s Jack Reacher in the series. However, the introduction of a new villain in Reacher season 3 could change things because he is unlike any other enemies Jack Reacher has encountered in the previous seasons.

Reacher Could Actually Lose A Straight Fight In Season 3

Season 3’s Paulie Has A Major Size Advantage Over Reacher

Jack Reacher, so far, has been portrayed as an immensely overpowered protagonist in the Prime Video series. Regardless of who he is facing or how many men he is fighting at once, Reacher has almost always dominated his enemies in fistfights with ease. In Reacher season 1, he single-handedly takes down a bunch of dangerous inmates. With the help of his team members from the 110th Special Investigations Unit, he even beat up the members of a biker gang. However, with Paulie’s introduction in Reacher season 3, Alan Ritchson’s Reacher might finally lose a straight fight.

Here’s how Jack Reacher describes Paulie in Lee Child’s Persuader:

“He was a very big guy. I stand six feet five inches tall and I have to center myself quite carefully to walk through a standard thirty-inch doorway. This guy was at least six inches taller than me and probably ten inches wider across the shoulders. He probably outweighed me by two hundred pounds. Maybe by more.”

Towards the end of Reacher season 3, the titular character was outsmarted, tortured, and shot at by the villains only because they outnumbered him and were armed. In a one-on-one showdown, none of them even came close to being as formidable as the main character. Paulie, however, is unlike any other Reacher villain. As described in Lee Child’s Persuader, he is 7 feet tall and way more muscle-bound than Jack Reacher. This gives the gigantic villain a serious edge over Jack Reacher, allowing him to potentially beat the Alan Ritchson character in fair hand-to-hand combat in season 3.

Reacher Losing A Fist Fight Would Be Good For The Show’s Stakes

Reacher Wins Fistfights A Little Too Easily In Seasons 1 & 2

Although the first two seasons of Prime Video’s Reacher never leave a dull moment, the overarching stakes of the titular character have rarely been too high in both installments. Reacher has faced some influential and politically powerful villains, like Langston and Kliner, but none of these enemies were strong or skilled enough to harm him in a fistfight. Owing to this, since Paulie can seriously threaten Jack Reacher and even potentially kill him because of his massive size advantage, his involvement in Reacher season 3 perfectly raises the stakes for the seemingly invincible titular character.