Alan Ritchson, the man who redefined on-screen machismo with Reacher, recently revealed a surprising fact about himself. When it comes to fights and takedowns, it’s no-holds-barred for Ritchson as well as his fictional opponent. This means he isn’t afraid to get beaten, battered, and bruised on-screen, irrespective of how it may affect or influence his image as an action hero.

In an interview with Variety, the actor claimed:

It’s important to me that people understand this when they come watch one of my movies. There’s no fight count here. I’ve got friends in the business for whom every punch is worth a point. They can’t be defeated. But that sh*t doesn’t fly in my camp!

That last bit was clearly meant for two of Hollywood’s most famous and arguably biggest action heroes: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jason Statham. The Hobbs & Shaw co-stars have it stipulated in their contracts that they can never lose a fight on-screen or land fewer punches, hits, or blows than their opponent.

While it may be necessary for The Rock and Statham to preserve their brand, such a thing seems unnecessary for Ritchson, who is all-in regarding on-screen brutality.

Alan Ritchson Slyly Shades His Fast & Furious Co-stars For Their Macho Image

While Alan Ritchson never said their names out loud, fans knew who he meant when he spoke of fight counts and every punch being worth a point. In 2019, a Wall Street Journal exposé-of-sorts revealed that Vin Diesel established a complex score chart for every punch, hit, and blow on the Fast & Furious movies.

Every blow, punches, kicks, headbutts, bodyslams, and so on—was assigned a value according to its impact. Later, The Rock and Jason Statham, too, made changes in their individual contracts so they were always shown to come out on top, no matter the context of the fight or who their opponent was.

This made for a very messy, although entertaining, rivalry-turned-bromance spin-off movie, Hobbs & Shaw. The all-out brawls were constantly monitored, and fight scenes were choreographed beforehand to ensure that both actors’ brand value remained equal and intact.

But Alan Ritchson couldn’t care less about graphs and numbers. His brutal rule of keeping no count is in direct conflict with Diesel, The Rock, and Statham’s hard-earned image. And this makes his fights even more spectacular and compelling to watch since there is no predetermined winner.

What Alan Ritchson’s All-In Rule Means For His Fast & Furious Future

Alan Ritchson and Vin Diesel in Fast X (2023) [Credit: Universal Pictures]

Alan Ritchson’s towering frame often makes it difficult for writers to put him in an arc where he would get beaten up, but one franchise makes that problem look silly. In Fast X, Ritchson was introduced as the witty, charming, cunning, and duplicitous Agent Aimes, who was as ruthless in a fight as he was quippy with his one-liners (“Everyone becomes family. It’s like a cult but with cars.”)

Later, it is revealed that the “disarmingly unflappable” Aimes is essentially the new Mr. Nobody and leader of the mysterious Agency and has been working with Dante Reyes the whole time. Suffice it to say that he has been properly embedded into the storyline and built up as a worthy adversary to Dom.

Aimes was last seen being tracked and hunted by Hobbs in the infamous Fast X post-credits scene, which means he is all set to return in Fast XI. But, if his no-holds-barred rule doesn’t fly with the main trio, the finale will scrap any hope for a redemption arc or an Aimes vs Hobbs & Shaw spin-off despite him being such an interesting character.

Below is a table listing all the cast members returning for Fast XI.

CastCharacterVin DieselDom TorettoDwayne JohnsonLuke HobbsJason StathamDeckard ShawJason MomoaDante ReyesAlan RitchsonAimesMichelle RodriguezLetty OrtizHelen MirrenQueenieBrie LarsonTessGal GadotGisele YasharSung KangHan LueNathalie EmmanuelRamseyCharlize TheronCipherTyrese GibsonRomanLudacrisTej ParkerScott EastwoodLittle NobodyJordana BrewsterMia Toretto

Fast X: Part 2 is slated to premiere in April 2027.
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