Reacher season 2 has largely replaced their original cast of characters from the first season. Besides Alan Ritchson's Jack Reacher, we have almost no recurring characters and while that might disappoint some fans, it's pretty much canon and Ritchson himself hopes that audiences will appreciate the new dynamic between characters that Reacher season 2 provides.
Alan Ritchson Addresses Drastic Cast Changes For Reacher Season 2
Reacher has turned out to be a smashing success for Amazon, which can largely be attributed to the great cast and great direction. It probably helped that they had the man behind the source material, Lee Child, be heavily involved in the production of the show.
While staying faithful to the source material is something most fans appreciate, in this case it also entailed some drastic changes to the cast for Reacher season 2. As some of you might know, the second installment of the show adapts Lee Child's Bad Luck and Trouble , which throws Reacher into a whole new setting, with a bunch of new characters.
So you could say they played this by the book, as the books also thrived of introducing new interesting characters, only including a few recurring characters. Taking this into account, overhauling the cast for Reacher season 2 as actually canon and will likely be the same for future seasons!
Still, Alan Ritchson can understand why that might upset some fans, that grew fond of the cast of the first season. In an interview with Variety, he addressed the situation, explaining how he hopes they can still appreciate the new set of characters.
The cast of the first season set the bar so impossibly high for any other characters coming into the show. It almost feels like there’s a bittersweet betrayal by us enjoying a different adventure. But I think when people see what Reacher is like around his chosen family, they’re going to fall in love for different reasons.
Looking at how successful the books have been , it's not really likely that their decision to feature an almost completely new cast of characters will impede the show's success. Still, it is understandable that some people are sad that they will not see some of their favorite characters return in future seasons.