Comparisons between Alan Ritchson and Arnold Schwarzenegger will only grow louder when the two action heroes co-star in The Man With the Bag in late 2025, and louder still when Ritchson stars in the upcoming sci-fi action movie War Machine. Thanks to his role as the тιтle character in Reacher, Alan Ritchson has emerged as a bona fide action star for the modern age.

His work in the wonderfully over-the-top action series from Prime Video has showcased his size, strength, and commanding screen presence. Alan Ritchson’s movie star traits have been further showcased in movies like The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and Fast X, and it’s clear that Ritchson is beginning to emerge as a go-to hulking action star in Hollywood.

That has naturally drawn comparisons to another action star with similar traits: Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger is most famous for his role as the Terminator, but he had plenty of other great action roles in the 1980s and 1990s, including starring turns in Predator, The Running Man, and Total Recall.

In fact, the parallels have become so clear that Ritchson is beginning to be viewed as the heir-apparent to Schwarzenegger in Hollywood. We’ll find out if the torch is being metaphorically pᴀssed with Ritchson’s next two movies, which will give him the opportunity to cut his teeth on two genres that Schwarzenegger excelled in as well.

The Man With The Bag Will Give Alan Ritchson An Action-Comedy With Arnold Schwarzenegger

Ritchson Will Then Star In The Sci-Fi Movie War Machine

Ritchson’s next major Hollywood movie will be The Man With the Bag, a Christmas action comedy that will see Ritchson star as a petty criminal who is recruited by Santa Claus to help him track down his magical bag of presents after it’s stolen. As fate would have it, Santa Claus will be played by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In addition to being one of the greatest action heroes ever, Schwarzenegger was celebrated as a comedic actor during his career, with his musclebound stature acting as a perfect comedic foil in several excellent comedies. He starred in comedy favorites like Kindergarten Cop, Twins, Last Action Hero, and another Christmas comedy classic in Jingle All the Way.

While his character Anders Lᴀssen was the comedic relief in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, The Man With the Bag will be Ritchson’s first opportunity to truly lead a big-budget action comedy. We will get to see him play directly off Schwarzenegger, in what could turn out to be a legitimate pᴀssing of the torch right on screen.

After proving his comedic chops, Ritchson will be afforded an opportunity to excel in another genre that Schwarzenegger dominated earlier in his career: science fiction. Ritchson is slated to star in the upcoming action sci-fi film War Machine, which will stream on Netflix at some point in 2026 or early 2027.

Plot details are still limited, but we know that War Machine will see Ritchson alongside Dennis Quaid, Stephan James, and Jai Courtney as spec ops recruits battling against a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly alien force. That’s not far off from the plot of Predator, and while there will obviously be far more differences than a one-sentence summary can tell, the plot sounds exactly like a 1980s Schwarzenegger vehicle.

Ritchson successfully adapting to both science fiction and comedy will truly make him a ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ringer for Schwarzenegger, when factoring in his size, demeanor, and action movie talents. It will be difficult not to consider him the replacement for the iconic Austrian-American actor, and a worthy one at that.

Alan Ritchson’s Schwarzenegger Comparisons Make Him Ideal For Terminator 7

Ritchson Feels Like A Ready-Made Arnie Replacement

The comparisons between the two actors are so strong that there is really only one thing left to do: literally replace Arnold Schwarzenegger with Alan Ritchson at some point. As the Governator’s movie career comes to a close, Ritchson could step in as a ready-made replacement for any of his franchises, most specifically the Terminator franchise.

Through no fault of Schwarzenegger’s, the Terminator movies since Judgment Day have come nowhere close to living up to the near-perfection of the first two movies. The franchise is sorely in need of a legitimate reboot, especially after Schwarzenegger confirmed the end of his involvement with the franchise after Terminator: Dark Fate.

The seventh Terminator movie, which James Cameron is reportedly developing as a reset for the franchise with a more immediately relevant focus on AI, could and likely will scrap the confusing continuity of the first six movies. By starting over with the base Terminator concept but a completely new story, new cast, and new direction, Cameron can breathe new life into the popular but flailing franchise.

Ritchson is the perfect fit for the franchise’s new primary Terminator. His mᴀssive size, intimidating strength and speed, and stoic disposition are perfect for him to capture what made Schwarzenegger’s original portrayal so terrifying and threatening.

Ritchson is also young enough to carry the franchise for at least a few movies, given that he’s just 42. He could be the perfect actor to get the franchise back on its feet with a complete refresh. We’ll see Ritchson and Schwarzenegger share a screen in The Man With the Bag, which should provide the clearest look yet at the two actors’ similarities.