The 2006 betrayal that became the “best loss” of Alan Ritchson’s career
Alan Ritchson, best known for playing Jack Reacher in Amazon Prime's TV adaptation, has revealed that missing out on a Smallville spin-off in 2006 turned out to be one of the best things to happen to his career. Ritchson had played a young Aquaman in four episodes of Smallville, prompting producers to develop a dedicated Aquaman pilot for The CW, but a merger between Warner Bros and UPN saw new executives scrap plans to build a show around an unknown actor, with Justin Hartley cast in his place.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Ritchson described the setback as "the best loss that I could have ever asked for" and "a blessing in disguise," reflecting on it with the benefit of hindsight. The Aquaman pilot ultimately never aired on television, only surfacing later as an iTunes release, while Ritchson went on to build a varied career, including roles in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films, before landing the role of Reacher.
- Alan Ritchson lost a 2006 Aquaman spin-off role to Justin Hartley
- Warner Bros-UPN merger scrapped the planned CW show
- Ritchson now calls the loss "a blessing in disguise"
New here? Start with this
Alan Ritchson is an American actor now widely known for playing Jack Reacher in Amazon Prime Video's television adaptation of Lee Child's novels. Before that role, he had a long career of smaller parts, including a stint as a young version of the superhero Aquaman on the TV series Smallville in 2006.
At the time, producers were reportedly developing a spin-off show built around Ritchson's Aquaman character for The CW network, but a corporate merger between Warner Bros and UPN led to a change of executives, who dropped the idea of centring a series on a then-unknown actor. Justin Hartley was cast in the role instead, and the pilot episode that had already been made was never broadcast, eventually appearing only as a digital release.
The story matters because Ritchson has since spoken publicly about how that setback shaped his career, framing it as a positive turning point despite the disappointment at the time. It offers a look at how early rejections in Hollywood can factor into an actor's later success, using his own path to roles such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films and eventually Reacher as an example.