The Jack Reacher And Will Trent Staff-Up That Followers May Have Missed

Earlier than he was the star of a success streaming sequence, Jack Reacher was trekking his manner round the US in Lee Kid’s novels. The British writer created his hero as a lone-wolf former army policeman with a penchant for a nomadic, minimalist way of life. Whereas the character is understood for being a loner, throughout what’s now 29 Jack Reacher books, Kid’s hero has met and teamed up with all method of cohort, acquaintance, and ally.

That is the identical for the streaming sequence, too, with “Reacher” season 3 — based mostly on the very best Jack Reacher novel — following the titular ex-Military officer as he groups up with DEA agent Susan Duffy (the very best factor to occur to “Reacher” in a while) to take down a dodgy rug import enterprise. Beforehand, the present has seen Reacher be part of forces with an area police division, and we have seen loads of his good friend Frances Neagley (Maria Sten), who was a member of Reacher’s one hundred and tenth Particular Investigations unit within the Military and is often referred to as upon to assist her former boss out of the numerous binds by which he finds himself.

What we’d not see in “Reacher,” nevertheless, is the protagonist teaming up with characters from exterior Kid’s unique Jack Reacher universe. The prolific writer, who serves as govt producer on the sequence, did not cease at 29 books, writing a sequence of quick tales and a guide breaking down Reacher’s guidelines and private ethos. However he additionally branched out into different universes totally, teaming up with different authors to carry Jack Reacher into the world of equally well-liked trendy literary heroes. At one level, this concerned co-writing a brief story with Karin Slaughter, writer of the Will Trent novels.

Whereas Lee Youngster was busy making a sequence of novels about an itinerant American motion hero whereas writing in his native UK, American crime author Karin Slaughter was crafting a sequence of books about Georgia Bureau of Investigation particular agent Will Trent and his associate Religion Mitchell. Although the Will Trent novels aren’t fairly as quite a few because the Jack Reacher books (there are at present 15 Trent outings), they’re extremely popular in their very own proper and much like Kid’s sequence in that they give attention to a singular hero able to feats that different brokers merely cannot match. In that sense, it was solely a matter of time earlier than Reacher and Trent met in some capability, and in 2019, that very assembly occurred.

“Cleansing the Gold” is a brief story/novella from Youngster and Slaughter that options each Jack Reacher and Will Trent. The story sees the latter go undercover at Fort Knox as a part of his investigation right into a 22-year-old homicide. When he embarks on his mission, he has a single suspect: Jack Reacher. Because it occurs, Reacher can also be at Fort Knox as a part of his personal mission to topple a bootleg group working inside the American army — one thing with which the previous army policeman could be very acquainted. In fact, it isn’t lengthy earlier than the duo type an alliance to deal with a fair greater job after discovering a conspiracy that neither may have foreseen.

Most evaluations of “Cleansing the Gold” are pretty optimistic, so it appears this was a well-received team-up, even when it will not be remembered as both Reacher nor Trent’s best outing. The most effective Jack Reacher novels are beloved by followers, and his Trent team-up was at all times unlikely to usurp any of essentially the most celebrated novels within the sequence. Nonetheless, it’s fascinating to see how far the Reacher universe spreads.

The Jack Reacher-verse is much more sprawling than even some followers would possibly notice. For instance, “Cleansing the Gold” wasn’t the primary time Lee Kid’s hero had ventured exterior his personal literary universe. Jack Reacher as soon as crossed into the world of “Bones,” in a 2017 quick story that equally paired Youngster with a feminine author, this one being Kathy Reichs.

Reichs is a forensic anthropologist whose personal novels featured the character of Temperance Brennan. Brennan is an anthropologist based mostly on Reichs who was used as the premise of Emily Deschanel’s Temperance “Bones” Brennan within the Fox procedural “Bones.” The quick story “Faking a Assassin” appeared within the anthology “MatchUp,” and noticed Reacher teaming up with Brennan after she’s falsely accused of a homicide. Once more, it wasn’t essentially the most celebrated Jack Reacher journey, however it was a neat little addition to each characters’ lore.

The identical goes for Reacher’s team-up with Will Trent. Each characters have since been given their very own sequence, with “Will Trent” now in its third season on ABC, and “Reacher” equally in its third season on Prime Video. At this level, there’s completely no indication or want for both of the 2 to crossover on-screen, however it’s fascinating to consider potential future crossovers — particularly in Reacher’s case. The character is such an archetypal American hero that followers will certainly be wanting to see how he measures as much as different beloved motion heroes. We’ll nearly definitely by no means see a Reacher/James Bond crossover, or a Reacher versus John Wick film, however the idea of taking Alan Ritchson’s hero and crossing him over into one other universe is a tantalizing prospect.