Jack Reacher Movies in Order: The Two Films and TV Connection

Watch Jack Reacher (2012), then Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016). Those are the two Tom Cruise films. The television series Reacher, starring Alan Ritchson, is a separate adaptation and is not a third movie.

The Jack Reacher movies in order

The two films take about 4 hours and 10 minutes together, before breaks. Each tells a separate case, so you can watch Never Go Back on its own. For a first watch of both, start with the 2012 film; there is no prequel to move ahead of it.

Start with Jack Reacher (2012)

In Jack Reacher (2012), a sniper investigation draws Reacher into a case that looks settled. The film introduces his background as a former military police investigator and his habit of questioning evidence that others accept.

This is the better starting point if you want to meet Cruise’s version of the character through a self-contained investigation. It adapts One Shot, rather than the first Reacher novel. You do not need to read the eight books published before it to follow the case.

Then watch Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

Never Go Back (2016) draws Reacher back toward his former military unit and Major Susan Turner. It is not the second half of the sniper investigation, so you do not need to remember every suspect from the first film.

If a listing calls it “Jack Reacher 2,” check for the subtitle Never Go Back and the year 2016. That informal name does not refer to another film you need to find.

Where does Alan Ritchson’s Reacher fit?

It does not sit before or after the Cruise films in a shared screen timeline. Start the TV series at season 1 whether you have seen both movies, one of them or neither.

The TV adaptation spends a season on a case rather than compressing it into a feature film. Its first season adapts Killing Floor, the first published Reacher novel. The films chose later books, which is why movie order and book order do not line up.

If you were looking for “Jack Reacher 3” and found Reacher season 3, you found a TV season, not another Tom Cruise movie. Amazon’s Reacher guide identifies the television production and its lead actor.

Which books should you read after the movies?

For the original version of a case you just watched, choose One Shot after the first film or Never Go Back after the second. The official book catalog identifies them as books 9 and 18. The films adapt those stories; they do not cover the intervening novels.

If you want to begin the book series itself, start with Killing Floor. There is no need to buy the entire run just to understand either movie, and reading the matching novel first will naturally reveal parts of that film’s mystery.