Reacher Season 2 Nods To Alan Ritchson's Aquaman - But Only Smallville Fans Got It

Alan Ritchson certainly has the body to play hulking Jack Reacher on the Amazon Prime Video series "Reacher." That physique has also been well-utilized in superhero properties, such as his roles as Hank Hall, aka Hawk, on "Titans" and Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman, on "Smallville." The latter role even got a brief reference on "Reacher" Season 2, Episode 5 — "Burial."

As the episode title suggests, a funeral takes place for Calvin Franz (Luke Bilyk). At this event, Detective Guy Russo (Domenick Lombardozzi) attempts to console Calvin's son by handing him a superhero action figure named Shock Ranger. In the process, Guy talks about his favorite hero: "When I was a kid, I had Aquaman. I thought it was so cool how he could talk to fish 'cause I wanted to talk to my dog." The exchange takes place as Reacher looks on, and it appears to be a transparent nod to one of Ritchson's previous credits. 

Reacher confronts Guy after the fact for giving a toy to a grieving child. Maybe he's just upset Guy didn't give the kid an Aquaman action figure. But while Reacher was irate, "Smallville" fans were likely delighted at the Easter egg and the reminder that Ritchson has been playing action heroes for a while now. 

As a character, Aquaman has undergone an intense glow-up since his days on "Smallville." Jason Momoa is now most closely affiliated with the King of Atlantis following the impressive worldwide gross of 2018's "Aquaman" (we'll ignore the less-than-stellar box office showing of 2023's "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom"). It's a safe bet Alan Ritchson is done with the character, and he's plenty busy these days anyway. But actors reprising old superhero roles are all the rage currently, and the team behind the Arrowverse on The CW did try to bring him back for a big crossover event.

The CW's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" featured a lot of familiar faces, including "Smallville" Superman actor Tom Welling. In 2019, Collider asked Ritchson if there was ever a chance his Aquaman could've made an appearance. Apparently, he was interested in it: "We tried to work it out. We were shooting and it was a very difficult schedule for us. We were shooting three episodes at once all the time. I would have had to leave the country and come back in to get a permit specifically for that show. I did want to participate."

Fortunately, Ritchson wasn't left in the cold entirely, as he has uncredited appearances as Hank Hall on the "Supergirl" and "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" episodes of the crossover. His days as a Sea King may be over, but considering the massive audience watching "Reacher" Season 2, Ritchson seems to have moved on just fine.