‘War Machine’ Star Alan Ritchson Believes “No Secret That People Are Sort Of Over Watching Marvel-Type Movies” While Talking-Up New Vietnam War Film

“Reacher” lead actor Alan Ritchson is taking a swing at leading man with his genre-bending Netflix movie “War Machine,” and is aiming to take a more grounded role with an upcoming war movie that sees him working with director Patrick Hughes again.

Ritchson spoke with The Hollywood Reporter when the subject of this new/untitled Navy SEAL film (currently in production), focusing on the story of Mike Thornton during the Vietnam War, was brought up. As the actor discussed co-writing the pic with Jason Hall (“American Sniper”), and has him reuniting with Hughes for the pic at Amazon MGM Studios. At the same time, Ritchson ripped into the Marvel/superhero fatigue when highlighting a non-fiction character’s journey.

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“There are a lot of echoes and reverberations from 81’s journey. While [‘War Machine’] is pure fiction, there’s a call to brotherly love that is something sacred and eternal, whether you’re male or female. It’s about sacrificing yourself for a brother. The new film is based on Thornton’s true story near the end of his time in Vietnam as some of the first Navy SEALs. It features characters who wrestle with the prospect of total and utter annihilation but hold onto the flicker of hope. In a world gone terribly wrong and sideways, humanity survives. I am in awe of that,” Ritchson said of what drew him to the Vietnam War story.

“We’re living through a period of cinema, especially with the Marvelization of a lot of theatrical tentpole movies in which the protagonists are almost invincible; we’ve reduced the stakes to something wholly unwatchable. There’s no secret that people are sort of over watching Marvel-type movies. Our goal is to create a protagonist who is hanging on by a thread. Can we drag somebody to the brink of death and shoot it in a way that feels real and visceral so that people can actually relate to it on a human level? People are suffering out there. Life is hard, man. By crossing the finish line at the end of the movie, we remind ourselves that we can get through another day. As fun as this movie is, there’s something deeply human that we can connect to.”

If you’re not fully aware of the true story used for Ritchson’s new war movie, it is set to focus on “a desperate last stand with five men trapped behind enemy lines, fighting 150 soldiers before retreating to the South China Sea, earning Thornton the Congressional Medal of Honor.”

Quite the leap for Ritchson after the comedic take on the birth of WWII commandos in Guy Ritchie‘s “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” a satirical take on the early days of secret military missions, but it took a more wacky action movie tone than what we’re expecting from his grounded Navy SEAL flick.

Many do believe that some modern superhero movies are way too focused on VFX action sequences, crossover gimmicks, and spectacle over character-driven moments, which is an opinion shared by more than just Ritchson. So, he’s hardly out of step with how others feel about the superhero genre and Marvel films.

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Interestingly enough, Ritchson had previously expressed a desire to play another DC Comics role (after playing Aquaman and Hawk for television) and confirmed speaking with James Gunn about playing the DCU’s Batman, which he doesn’t think is in his future.