‘Reacher’ Season 4 Needs These 10 Villains, Ranked
Reacher might have just wrapped up Season 3, but the show’s universe is constantly expanding. As Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) visits more obscure, small towns in the country, his enemy count continues to grow higher and higher. He may have started on his drifter journey with a lack of purpose, but when it comes to the ex-military police investigator, trouble always follows him.
With Season 4 currently underway, and a Neagley spin-off in the works, beloved fans are speculating which one of Lee Child’s 29 novels is up next for a television adaptation. As the show’s three seasons have proven, the villains only get tougher and wilder from here on out. Without further ado, here’s a list of villains Reacher Season 4 needs, ranked.
10
Bruno Hix
Novel: ‘No Plan B’ (2022)
Set in Gerrardsville, Colorado, two strangers are entangled in the same tragedy. The only anomaly is that their version of the incident could not be any more different. One one side, a guy believes that a woman might have committed suicide by throwing herself in front of a moving bus. However, the other witness believes that the victim was pushed to her death. The latter witness is no other than Reacher.
Bruno Hix is the head honcho at Minerva Correctional Corporation, the syndicate responsible for the gross act of organ harvesting. With his senior role, Hix has the means to get inmates to become organ donors, without their consent. It’s not like anybody’s looking for these prisoners anyway. But the demand for fresh organs is about to put Hix’s head on the market.
9
Edward Lane
Novel: ‘The Hard Way’ (2006)
In New York City, The Hard Way starts off slow with Reacher basking in the metropolis thick of the heat. He looks closely at a man crossing the road by himself, making his way to a parked car and driving it. Their encounter is no accident—Reacher’s assigned to ensure that the car, which contains million dollars of ransom money, is paid accordingly. In return, the man’s family safety is guaranteed.
The man behind Reacher’s little freelance gig is Edward Lane. A mercenary leader by day, he’s in for a shock when his wife Kate and her daughter Jade are kidnapped. When Reacher takes it upon himself to do some background checking on his boss, it turns out Lane isn’t as innocent as he pretends to be. His previous wife just so happens to be kidnapped as well, only to be discovered dead. He has the potential to be among the best TV villains ever if given the chance.
8
Lila Hoth & Svetlana
Novel: ‘Gone Tomorrow’ (2009)
Twelve tell-tale signs, five passengers, and one perpetrator. Gone Tomorrow bites the bullet and brings up a modern threat in national security: suicide bombers. Thanks to his fair share of experiences dealing with bombs, Reacher can easily spot these potential criminals from a mile away—or at least in a subway car.
Despite their very Russian names, Lila Hoth and Svetlana are far detached from the Motherland. The two are part of the Al Qaeda operatives, with Svetlana being a Mujahedeen fighter responsible for the brutal torture of Grigori Hoth, and Lila being her protégé. With their identities hidden, the two guilt trip Susan Mark into stealing information from the Pentagon. In exchange, they’ll return their son Peter Molina back in one piece.
7
Arthur Scorpio
Novel: ‘The Midnight Line’ (2017)
The Midnight Line takes a trip down memory lane to Reacher’s time in West Point. Passing by a pawn shop during one of his idle walks, Reacher’s eyes light up when he notices a West Point class ring. For a man of duty like Reacher, he knows that it’s more than just a ring—it’s a symbol of hard work in the United States Military Academy. Why would someone want to give it up? That’s for Reacher to personally figure it out.
Underneath the humbling facade of a laundromat is Arthur Scorpio, a criminal mastermind running an opioid empire. Similar to Zachary Beck of Persuader, Arthur utilizes his business as a cover up for his illegal schemes. Dealing with distribution, he oversees all the stolen drugs that come in and come out. When Arthur learns that Reacher is looking into a West Point class ring that passed through his network, Arthur’s set on eliminating him. It would be interested to see him set up as a hated villain on the show.
6
Jerry Thurman
Novel: ‘Nothing to Lose’ (2008)
As a proud drifted, Reacher literally has Nothing to Lose. In the Colorado countryside, there are two cities with strikingly polarizing names: Hope and Despair. Separating those two entities is a twelve-mile empty road. Reacher has no car, and there’s not a vehicle in sight for him to hitchhike on. After a long walk, all he wants is a cup of coffee. Instead, he receives a vagrancy charge and a rude welcoming party.
Despair is run by the self-appointed leader Jerry Thurman. With a cult-like grip, the power-hungry evangelist controls every aspect of the town. Whether it is local businesses to law establishments, the very mention of Jerry’s name strikes fear into the hearts of its inhabitants. When he’s not out there being a tyrant, he runs a metal recycling plant which, surprise, surprise, turns out to be a cover-up for a deadly military conspiracy.
5
The Duncan Family
Novel: ‘Worth Dying For’ (2010)
There’s something Worth Dying For in the wild terrains of Nebraska. Carrying the lingering weight of an unsolved cold case, Reacher opens up old wounds and reinvestigates a missing child’s case. Not everyone is happy with his newfound initiative. Coming face to face with a clan that has put an entire county to do their every bidding, it’s Reacher against an army of men once again (he’s perfect for the one-man army trope).
Throughout his search, Reacher encounters the Duncan family, a crime syndicate that hides their schemes as a trucking business. Led by main patriarch Seth Duncan, his entire family runs a human trafficking operation, illegally smuggling women and young girls from Southeast Asia into the Las Vegas sex trade. Even worse still, the Duncan family has no shame about bringing in some of these victims for their own twisted, personal agendas.
4
Plato
Novel: ’61 Hours’ (2010)
Reacher’s next 61 Hours is about to put his original plan astray. Caught in a merciless snowstorm, the last thing Reacher needs is to be caught in between a deadly confrontation. All the way in Bolton, South Dakota, a woman finally speaks up about a heinous crime that she has long been asked to keep quiet about. With the truth on the verge of surfacing, an assassin is about to make a move into town and shut her up.
Despite his Greek name, Plato is a Latin American drug lord whose empire spans from pawn shops to selling abandoned U.S. military facilities to the Russian mob. The real money comes from the stack loads of meth found in World War II bomber pilot supplies. When he learns that a potential witness may have evidence leading to his drug trade, Plato’s got an assassin on speed dial ready to make the kill.
3
Beau Borken
Novel: ‘Die Trying’ (1998)
In Die Trying, a quiet stroll in the Chicago sunshine turns into a full-blown abduction when Reacher tries to help a woman on crutches. Reacher’s courtesy comes with a deadly cost. In a sick twist of events, he finds himself staring down the barrel of a gun. Chained in a speeding van, Reacher has no idea why he’s being kidnapped in the first place. As for the woman, apparently, she’s part of the FBI—allegedly.
Beau Borken is a fanatical militia leader with grand ambitions and zero patience for obstacles like Reacher. Protected in his armed fortress in the middle of Montana, Borken’s wild dreams include growing a separatist revolution, aptly called the Montana Militia. From a crucified FBI agent to a potential bombing during a Fourth of July celebration, there’s no expecting what’s next from Borken, who could very well be the next scary villain on the small screen.
2
Victor “Hook” Hobie
Novel: ‘Tripwire’ (1999)
Despite his shiny military accolades, Reacher prefers a quiet life of anonymity in Tripwire. Gone are the days of being on the battlefield. These days, Reacher can be found attentively digging swimming pools by hand. His other side job includes working as a bouncer in a strip club in Key West. His disappearance doesn’t go unnoticed. Reacher feels a pair of detective eyes staring at him. It’s high time Reacher meets his fellow stalker.
Victor “Hook” Hobi is a predator in disguise. An impostor and a war criminal, Hook steals the identity of a dead soldier from the Vietnam War and builds a new life as a sadistic loan shark. Instead of small local businesses, Hook has his sights set on a particular multimillion-dollar company.
1
The Zec
Novel: ‘One Shot’ (2005)
Reacher only has One Shot to make it count. When a sniper’s deadly shots take down five people in a heartland city, the case looks like an easy win for the cops. But there’s one anomaly—the accused man, James Barr, refuses to speak. Instead of requesting a lawyer, he asks for a certain gentleman by the name of Reacher.
The Zec is an 80-year-old Russian gang leader with a spine-tingling past. After spending years in a Soviet gulag, the Zec returns with no retirement plan in sight. Back on the game with his criminal empire, he has no qualms for sacrificing to cover up his tracks (including orchestrating a mass shooting to hide the targeted murder of a single victim). The Zec is the best villain in one of the best Jack Reacher novels and his debut on the show could change everything for the protagonist.
