Posted in: Amazon Studios, Lord of The Rings, TV | Tagged: amazon studios, jack reacher, lee child, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, LoTR

A Reacher/LOTR Crossover? Okay, Hear Us Out Because This Could Work

Published Sun, 06 Nov 2022 07:46:11 -0600

by Adi Tantimedh

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So, Prime is having a moment: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (we'll just call it LOTR after this) is one of their most popular shows, even with diehard fans of J.R.R. Tolkein fans hating it, resulting in falling figures each week, but Reacher is still their number one show. According to Variety, LOTR has accumulated 1.3 billion views, while Reacher has totaled 1.8 billion views so far. Season one of LOTR reputedly cost a quarter of a billion dollars. Season one of Reacher wasn't that expensive. Therefore, we propose one no-brainer solution for season two of LOTR: have a crossover with Reacher!

Think about it. Amazon Studios produces or co-produces both LOTR and Reacher. This would be an amazing synergy for both shows. Both are based on multiple-million bestselling books series with a worldwide fanbase. Two different fanbases coming together! Who doesn't want to see Lee Child's unstoppable hero (Alan Ritchson) go to Middle Earth and kick ass?

When Reacher Goes to Middle-Earth

In LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring, Boromir (Sean Bean) said the immortal words, "One does not simply walk into Mordor." Well, Jack Reacher is just the guy who would simply walk into Mordor. He's already a mountain that walks like a man. This should be season two of LOTR: The Rings of Power! It could keep the continuity of the show while sticking to the format of a Jack Reacher story.

Jack Reacher, hitchhiking, would accept a ride on a farmer's cart into Middle Earth. He figured he would head in that direction because he hadn't been there before, so he might as well check it out. Hopefully, there's good coffee there. He gets off in Mordor. Walks around, seeing how messed up the place and wonders who could have messed the place up. He comes across an army of Orcs terrorizing a village and intervenes. He kills most of the Orcs with his bare hands, and one survivor escapes to report to his boss about this violent new stranger in town. Meanwhile, Reacher meets an Elvan warrior princess named Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), who's out to kill the leader of the Orcs for duping her into helping him. The leader is a guy named Sauron, and her beef with him is personal. She's out for revenge after he killed her brother. Galadriel becomes the female lead of each new Reacher adventure, and Reacher decides to help her out after her initial distrust. He might romance her out of respect for her skills as a warrior, as he has with many women in the novels. Sauron would send more Orcs after Reacher and Galadriel keep foiling the ones he sent before, maybe teaming up with some warrior dwarves along the way to form their own underdog army. Their edge is Reacher! Eventually, they fight their way to Sauron and drop him into lava, destroying his body. Reacher then hitches a ride out of Mordor to new adventures elsewhere. This is the arc of every novel, whether it takes place in New York, a small town in Tennessee, or Los Angeles, so why not Middle Earth? It's how adaptable the format established by Lee Child is.

See how easy it is to combine a Reacher arc with LOTR? It would attract the dad audience that makes Reacher the No. 1 show on Prime and turn LOTR: The Rings of Power into Prime's biggest show. It'll bring two fandoms together and generate even more sales of their respective books. Hop to it, Amazon Studios!

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