Rising star Alan Ritchson, who plays the title role in Reacher, is in the middle of the best Rotten Tomatoes hot streak of his career so far.

Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher in Front of the Rotten Tomatoes LogoCustom image by Yeider Chacon

SUMMARY

 Alan Ritchson’s movie and television roles in 2024 have earned the best Rotten Tomatoes scores of his career.
 His record-breaking 2024 movies include Ordinary Angels and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare .
 Upcoming projects seem to promise Ritchson’s continued rise as a movie and television star.

Alan Ritchson is having the best year of his career, according to Rotten Tomatoes data. The star is best known for playing the title role in the Prime Video show Reacher, which is based on the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child and has already been renewed for the upcoming season 3.

In addition to being nominated for two Critics Choice Super Awards for his performance, his role on the show has afforded him the opportunity to expand his career into prominent theatrical projects including the action movie blockbuster Fast X.

Long before Reacher season 3 and any other contemporary roles, however, Ritchson began his career in the mid-2000s by playing characters on both the big and small screens including Arthur Curry in The CW’s Smallville and Tripp Willinson on 90210.

His longest-running early television role was playing Thad Castle in the sitcom Blue Mountain State, and one of his first big movie gigs was playing Raphael in 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a role he reprised in its 2016 sequel Out of the Shadows. However, as his commercial success grows, so does his critical success.

Alan Ritchson’s Two Highest-Rated Movies On Rotten Tomatoes Released In 2024

Alan Ritchson Is A Bona Fide Movie Star

Alan Ritchson checking his bomb while holding a gun in his other hand in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare clip Alan Ritchson As Anders Lassen Holding A Gun In Front Of A Fence In The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Alan Ritchson as Anders Lassen in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Alan Ritchson stands in the snow in Ordinary Angels Alan Ritchson as Ed Schmitt Talking To His Daughter in Ordinary Angels

Despite having appeared in more than a dozen movies before 2024, of the titles in which Ritchson held a major role, his highest-ever scores both come from 2024 movies.

His first movie of the year so far was the faith-based drama Ordinary Angels, in which he starred opposite Oscar-winner Hilary Swank. The movie earned a Certified Fresh score of 84% and also boasts his highest-ever audience score with a nearly perfect 99% rating.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire , in which Ritchson played the minor character Gloss, earned a Certified Fresh score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Ritchson’s banner year continued with a role opposite Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alex Pettyfer, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Henry Golding, and Cary Elwes in Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

The movie, which is based on Damien Lewis’ 2014 nonfiction book Churchill’s Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWIIearned another Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 71%. By a hair, this beats out his former best-reviewed movie before 2024, which was the 2019 fantasy romance Above the Shadows, a title that earned a score of 70%.

Reacher Season 2 Released In 2024 With An Even Better Rotten Tomatoes Score Than Season 1

Alan Ritchson Was One Of The Only Returning Cast Members In Reacher Season 2

Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher in a Diner in Reacher Season 2

Being his biggest role, Reacher is responsible for the best Rotten Tomatoes score of Ritchson’s career. The show’s average Rotten Tomatoes score is 95%, which ties for No. 1 with his appearances in New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

However, this average comes from the already-strong season 1, which earned a Certified Fresh 92% score, and the even-better season 2, also Certified Fresh at a record 98%. The fact that the season was a Rotten Tomatoes improvement is telling, because Ritchson’s Reacher was one of the only returning characters, finding himself in a new setting surrounded by a new ensemble.

The final three episodes of season 2, including the explosive finale, aired in 2024, kicking off the star’s stellar year. Hitting that Rotten Tomatoes high in the same year as his two record-breaking movies is even more impressive considering the fact that his Rotten Tomatoes track record on the small screen is even better than what it is on the big screen, as he has never held a major role in a show that earned a Rotten score. Below, see how Reacher ranks among every show of his that has received a score on the review aggregator platform:

Alan Ritchson Will Only Become An Even Bigger Star After 2024

Ritchson’s Rise Is Only Just Beginning

Alan Ritchson as Jack Looking Out a Bus Window in the Reacher Season 2 Finale

In addition to Reacher season 3, there are quite a few upcoming Alan Ritchson movies that seem to promise that his Rotten Tomatoes hot streak is only beginning. This includes following up his Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare success by appearing in another military-themed movie, the upcoming Netflix project War Machine.

His upcoming roster also includes the Kevin James action-comedy Playdate and The Man with the Bag, in which he will co-star with action legend Arnold Schwarzenegger. Below, see a breakdown of all of Ritchson’s upcoming movie and television projects and their production status:

It remains to be seen which of these upcoming Alan Ritchson projects will receive the same kind of critical fanfare as his titles from throughout 2024. However, it seems that his breakout fame and rise in popularity is coinciding with a rise in the quality of his projects and their critical reception.

While there is only so high he can climb on the television end, this could mean that his upcoming movies have a chance of breaking his Ordinary Angels record, potentially reaching into the 90% to 100% range on Rotten Tomatoes.