Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan is ending with season 4, meaning it’s the last chance for another major figure from the books to appear. While Jack Ryan has changed actors nearly as often as James Bond, the key difference is that Jack used to swap faces in almost every outing. On the big screen, only Harrison Ford has played the CIA analyst more than once, but with Amazon’s Jack Ryan, John Krasinski has been given multiple seasons to make his mark on Clancy’s most famous hero. While Jack Ryan will end with its upcoming fourth series, a spinoff fronted by Michael Peña is currently in the works.
One figure whose been noticeably absent from Jack Ryan is John Clark. Readers of Clancy’s so-called “Ryanverse” will know Clark well, with the former SEAL being the brawn to Ryan’s brain in many novels, including Clear And Present Danger or The Sum Of All Fears (which Jack Ryan season 3 did better). Clark was also the main character in novels such as Rainbow Six and has been played onscreen by Willem Dafoe, Liev Schreiber and Michael B. Jordan thus far. Clark’s function in Jack Ryan was essentially filled by John Hoogenakker’s Matice during the first two seasons, but with the show ending, will Clark finally put in an appearance?
Why John Clark Must Appear In Jack Ryan Season 4
In 2018, Jack Ryan showrunners Carlton Cuse and Graham Roland told Digital Spy that Clark wouldn’t be appearing on the show due to “rights issues.” During this period, development was underway on a film adaptation of Clancy’s Without Remorse, where Tom Hardy was once attached to play Clark; this version would have also tied into the Chris Pine-led Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit movie. Jordan eventually signed on for the Stefano Sollima-helmed film, which drew mixed reviews. Clark is another of Clancy’s most popular creations, but it would feel strange for Jack Ryan (which might be a codename) to conclude without some kind of appearance or even reference to the character.
Clark is a key figure in the “Ryanverse,” and the relationship between him and Ryan is one of the most intriguing dynamics of the books. Rights issues and a desire to make a movie franchise built around Clark may have played a role in his Jack Ryan absence, but the end of the series opens up some possibilities. The exclusive streaming release of Without Remorse on Prime during the pandemic displays a certain amount of cooperation between Amazon and Paramount, so a request to use Clark for a Jack Ryan guest spot doesn’t sound like an unreasonable query.
Could Michael B Jordan Play Clark On Jack Ryan?
Intriguingly, Without Remorse didn’t try to separate itself from Jack Ryan – in fact, it teased they could exist within the same world. Without Remorse introduced Jodie Turner-Smith as Karen Greer, the niece of longtime Ryan ally Jim Greer, played by Wendell Piece on Jack Ryan. While far from confirmation the two properties are canon with one another, it at least opened up the possibility. Jordan is now set to reprise Clark for a Rainbow Six movie, but the question remains whether he could still play the part on the show too.
The thought has certainly crossed Krasinski’s mind, with the actor telling the Hindustan Times in 2022 that “I actually talked to Michael B Jordan about it.” and “We both found ourselves in this amazing universe and thought it would be a great opportunity to do it together.” Jordan’s Clark and Rainbow Six making an appearance on Amazon’s show would be an amazing tease for the upcoming movie, but at this point, that feels like wishful thinking. The film and show will likely remain separate, and even if Clark does pop up in Jack Ryan season 4 (where Cathy FINALLY returns), he will likely have a new face too.
