‘Without Remorse’ Has a Big Connection to Amazon’s ‘Jack

(This article accommodates solely very gentle spoilers for “Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse” on Amazon Prime Video)

In a number of methods, Tom Clancy was forward of his time together with his many novels that happened inside a shared universe — however the movie variations had been at all times one-off tales that by no means actually added as much as something as a complete. But that would very nicely be altering now, as Amazon could be within the technique of firing up a Clancyverse constructed to extra trendy requirements, beginning with the “Jack Ryan” sequence and now with “Without Remorse.” But there’s an enormous catch that we’ll focus on additional down.

Thus far it’s a two-pronged strategy, first with “Jack Ryan” specializing in, nicely, John Krasinski’s Jack Ryan and now with “Without Remorse” introducing the person who will turn out to be John Clark — performed in previous movies by Willem Defoe and Liev Schrieber, and now getting the Michael B. Jordan therapy.

We’re nonetheless within the early levels of this complete deal — “Jack Ryan” and “Without Remorse” haven’t any characters in frequent in any respect. But “Jack Ryan” will get its third season later this yr, and “Without Remorse” ends with a reasonably clear sequel tease for a “Rainbow Six” film.

“Without Remorse” does, nevertheless, embrace a direct line to “Jack Ryan,” because of an authentic character who is said to a serious character from Tom Clancy’s novels, who has featured prominently in a lot of the Jack Ryan-focused film variations in addition to the “Jack Ryan” present. That new character is Karen Greer, performed by Jodie Turner-Smith — the niece of 1 Jim Greer.

Most people know James Earl Jones because the face of Greer, since he performed the character in “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger.” Morgan Freeman then performed what is mostly thought of to be a reworked model of the identical character named William Cabot in “The Sum of All Fears.” And lately Wendell Pierce has been taking over the function in “Jack Ryan.”

Given that “Without Remorse” doesn’t make every other reference to characters from “Jack Ryan” or something that occurred on that present, we are able to’t even actually start to guess on the significance of Karen Greer’s existence. For now, it simply appears like a nod to the larger franchise, however in such a small approach that her look doesn’t include any guarantees about what’s coming subsequent.

That’s sensible. While that “Rainbow Six” film and one other season of “Jack Ryan” are on the way in which, it’s most likely for the perfect to see how issues go earlier than leaping straight to the large crossovers — we noticed how nicely that labored out for the DC movie universe.

We ought to level out that “Without Remorse” was not, so far as we all know, conceived as being a part of a shared universe with “Jack Ryan.” The movie was initially slated for a theatrical launch from Paramount, and it solely ended up with Amazon as a result of the pandemic closed most theaters for a yr. It’s attainable, then, that Turner-Smith’s character was not initially even presupposed to be Jim Greer’s niece. Aside from the one point out of her uncle, Karen Greer’s household relations haven’t any bearing on this story in any respect, and that’s a element that would simply have been added in reshoots or post-production.

That bit of information sparks a bunch of latest questions, however the primary one is about whether or not “Without Remorse” really represents the beginnings of a streaming Clancyverse, or if Paramount will proceed on these Michael B. Jordan films out as their very own separate factor in theaters. That’s a query we don’t have any solutions for simply but.