Clash of the (literal) titans!

(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Paulie is a character that Reacher fans have been curious about ever since it was confirmed that Reacher Season 3 – the hit show available with an Amazon Prime Video subscription – would be adapting the Lee Child book Persuader for its upcoming storyline. In Persuader, wandering force of vengeance Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) agrees to go undercover at the castle estate of crime boss Zachary Beck (Anthony Michael Hall), hoping to locate a missing DEA agent. And Paulie is Beck’s hulking bodyguard, a physical threat to the equally intimidating Reacher.

Earlier, CinemaBlend was able to exclusively confirm that Paulie will be played by Olivier Richters in Reacher Season 3, a Dutch actor who goes by the nickname “The Dutch Giant.” Which prompted the official Reacher Instagram page to post this.

Paulie might not be the most important character to the overall story of Persuader, but finding the right actor to play him would be crucial. As described by Lee Child in the pages of his book, Paulie is a mass of muscle whose brain is affected by the amount of steroids that he takes. He towers over the already massive Reacher, and is unpredictable because of his drug-addled mind. There’s a physical confrontation between the two in the book that, if it’s converted to the screen, could rank as one of the greatest fight sequences ever produced.

As for the rest of Reacher Season 3, the cast is coming together nicely. The Lee Child books frequently move Jack Reacher to new locations, giving the author the ability to bring in fresh faces as characters in Reacher’s orbit.

Though we know that Maria Sten will once again play Reacher’s trusted confidant Frances Neagley, the cast has added Anthony Michael Hall as Beck, Sonya Cassidy as Boston-based DEA agent Susan Duffy (who recruits Reacher for her mission), and Chicago Med star Brian Tee as Quinn… though if you want to know  more about that character, I suggest you read the book before this new season arrives.

Reacher has been one of the best new shows added to the Amazon Prime Video streaming service. And it would be pretty easy for them to keep the show riding high for multiple seasons, as Jack Reacher creator Lee Child has a library of Reacher books waiting for proper adaptation (the show so far has covered Killing Floor and Bad Luck and Trouble for its first two seasons).

(Image credit: Amazon Prime Video)
We don’t know yet when Reacher Season 3 will come out, as the set photo of Olivier Richters messing with Alan Ritchson suggests that they are still filming. But once we have those details, we will share them with you here.