Summary
- Tom Clancy’s legacy lives on through movies, TV shows, and video games based on his work.
- The Jack Ryan character is the most famous creation of Tom Clancy and has been portrayed by various actors.
- Ubisoft acquired the rights to Tom Clancy’s intellectual property, ensuring future installments of games, films, and shows under his brand.
All of the Tom Clancy movies and television shows, including upcoming releases, originated from the legendary author’s impressive body of work. Clancy has also become a staple in the gaming world, with dozens of popular first-person-shooter video games developed based on his characters and novels. Clancy is most famously known for creating the Jack Ryan character, who has been depicted by numerous big-name actors and has transcended decades over various mediums.
Although Clancy passed away in October 2013, his legacy is carried on through multiple installments of his namesake franchise. There is even a particular method to watch all Tom Clancy movies in order to get the full experience of the world Clancy created. Before Clancy’s death, giant video game publisher Ubisoft purchased the rights to his intellectual property, securing many future installments of video games, films, and television shows still to come under his legendary brand.
10 Amazing War Movies Without Any Violence
From prisoner of war stories to intense political disputes like Oppenheimer, there are plenty of amazing war movies with little to no violence.
1 The Hunt For Red October (1990)
Jack Ryan Must Find A Rogue Soviet Submarine
The Hunt for Red October tells the riveting story of a Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) who plans to defect to the United States with his submarine, the Red October, in order to avert a nuclear catastrophe. The film is the first on-screen appearance of the Jack Ryan character as a CIA analyst deciphering the mystery of Marko’s intention, portrayed by a young Alec Baldwin. The story was based on Clancy’s bestselling novel which was published in 1984.
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2 Patriot Games (1992)
Jack Ryan And His Family Become The Target Of A Vengeful Terrorist
Patriot Games is the second novel and film installment in the Jack Ryan franchise, played on-screen by the impeccable Harrison Ford. Patriot Games introduces the combative element of the Jack Ryan character as a former Marine who becomes the target of a terrorist group after preventing the assassination of the British Royal Family. Both the novel and film expand on the Jack Ryan protagonist with expert military detail and authentic depictions of international espionage, ultimately laying the foundation for future Jack Ryan installments.
The movie also introduces his family, including his wife Cathy Ryan who appears in several other adaptations. Though the movie operates as a standalone movie, James Earl Jones reprises his role as James Greer from The Hunt for Red October. Sean Bean also has a standout role as the movie’s chief villain.
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3 Clear And Present Danger (1994)
Jack Ryan Gets Mixed Up In The CIA’s Involvement In A Drug War
Harrison Ford becomes the only actor to play Jack Ryan in more than one movie with Clear and Present Danger. This would also be the final time he plays the role. Clancy’s bestselling novel of the same name was published in 1989 and was his fourth book that featured Ryan, who has been promoted to Deputy Director of Intelligence at the CIA.
The compelling story follows Ryan as he uncovers a drug smuggling operation out of Colombia that leads him down a tangled path of government conspiracy and top-secret high-level cover-ups. The movie is also notable for including another popular character from Clancy’s literary work with the CIA operative John Clarke, played by Willem Dafoe.
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Every Time Jack Ryan Put Cathy In Danger (In Movies & Amazon’s TV Show)
Jack’s heroics end up saving various people in all Tom Clancy’s adaptations, but before they do, he often puts Cathy in danger without meaning to.
4 OP Center (1995)
A Two-Part Miniseries Looking At Government Agency Operations
OP Center is an Emmy-winning miniseries made for television that is based on a Tom Clancy-branded novel written by Jeff Rovin. In the series, the OP Center is a specialized U.S. agency that monitors international crises. On his first day on the job, new OP Center director Paul Hood must lead his team to uncover those responsible for stealing nuclear missiles from the Soviet Union. Hood must find and prevent the terrorist thieves before an all-out nuclear war breaks out.
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5 NetForce (1999)
The FBI Battles Cybercrime
NetForce is another popular Tom Clancy book series that was adapted into a television miniseries. The fictional FBI division NetForce is designed to combat cybercrime during the early days of the Internet and uphold law and order in a rapidly advancing digital world. A brilliant software developer is suspected of having sinister plans to take full control of the Internet’s infrastructure, which motivates NetForce special agents to stop him before he gains irreversible and powerful access.
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6 The Sum Of All Fears (2002)
Jack Ryan Attempts To Stop Nuclear War Between America And Russia
The Sum of All Fears tells the CIA origin story of the Jack Ryan character portrayed by Ben Affleck. Ryan begins as a humble analyst who is thrown into the combative side of covert operations and espionage in order to prevent nuclear war. Ryan’s analytical skills help the President of the United States determine how to respond to a suspected terrorist threat from a group of Neo-Nazis who plan to detonate a bomb at a popular football game.
Despite strong critical and box office success, this would be the only Jack Ryan movie that Affleck did. The movie also features a strong supporting cast, including Morgan Freeman and Ciaran Hinds while Liev Schreiber takes on the role of Ryan’s ally, John Clark.
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10 Major Franchises That Have Way More Movies Than You Think
With so many franchises out there, it’s unsurprising that some major franchises have more movies that many people might not even know about.
7 Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
Jack Ryan Must Stop A Financial Attack On The USA
The Jack Ryan franchise was rebooted yet again with another new actor in the lead role and another story about Ryan’s early career. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit stars Chris Pine as Jack Ryan as he uncovers and tries to prevent a Russian plan to tank the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack. The movie is not directly related to any of Tom Clancy’s books but serves as a reboot of the Jack Ryan franchise.
Shadow Recruit retells Ryan’s origin story as a CIA analyst turned covert operative that takes several creative liberties to previously established qualities of the Jack Ryan character. The movie was directed by Oscar winner Kenneth Branagh who also plays the movie’s main villain. Kiera Knightley plays Jack Ryan’s future wife Cathy in this installment.
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8 Without Remorse (2021)
John Kelly Seeks Revenge For His Wife’s Murder
Without Remorse
- Release Date
- April 30, 2021
- Director
- Stefano Sollima
- Cast
- Guy Pearce , Jamie Bell , Colman Domingo , Jacob Scipio , Michael B. Jordan , Brett Gelman , Jodie Turner-Smith , Lauren London , Jack Kesy
- Runtime
- 109minutes
Without Remorse introduces Michael B. Jordan as John Kelly, an elite Navy SEAL who aims to avenge the unjust murders of his wife. The movie is based on Tom Clancy’s 1993 novel of the same name although several key differences separate the two narratives. Without Remorse exists in the same creative universe as Jack Ryan despite the iconic character not appearing or being mentioned in the 2021 film. The ending of the movie also sets up a future franchise that focuses on Kelly as the lead but it is unclear if that is still happening
9 Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (2018-2023)
A Four-Season Series Of Jack Ryan’s Global Missions
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan
- Release Date
- August 31, 2018
- Cast
- John Krasinski , Wendell Pierce , Abbie Cornish , Ali Suliman , Dina Shihabi , John Hoogenakker , Noomi Rapace , Jordi Molla , Francisco Denis , Cristina Umaña
- Seasons
- 4
The original Amazon series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan is arguably the most successful iteration of the Jack Ryan character that has ever been made. John Krasinski stars as Ryan over the course of four seasons with each season finding Ryan and his allies takes on a new threat on a global scale. The series sets its own take on the Jack Ryan timeline while also having its own versions of some key characters in this universe, such as Wendell Pierce as James Greer and Abbie Cornish as Cathy Mueller (later Cathy Ryan).
Though the series never adapted any of Clancy’s novels in a straightforward manner, it is possible to see the influences of stories like The Hunt for Red October and Clear and Present Danger reflected in the show.
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10 Best TV Shows Like Jack Ryan
Prime Video’s Jack Ryan may be over after four seasons, but luckily, there are quite a few similar action-packed drama shows to watch next.
10 Rainbow Six (TBA)
A Without Remorse Spinoff
Rainbow Six is an upcoming Tom Clancy project that is in development and pre-production, but it is unclear what form the series will take. Michael B. Jordan was expected to reprise his role from Without Remorse after the tease at the end of the original movie. It has also been reported that John Wick director Chad Stahelski will direct. However, there may also be a competing Rainbow Six series coming as well.
Michael Peña joined the cast of Jack Ryan season 4 as Domingo “Ding” Chavez, a character who appears in several Tom Clancy novels and is the leader of the Rainbow Six team. Following Peña ‘s casting, it was announced he would lead a spinoff series which now seems to be a Rainbow Six series. Rainbow Six has been a popular video game franchise since 1998, with fifteen individual first-person-shooter games created based on Clancy’s original book.
11 Splinter Cell (TBA)
An Animated Adaptation Of The Tom Clancy Video Games
Splinter Cell is an expected animated television series set to hit Netflix sometime in the near future. The series has confirmed a two-season, sixteen-episode deal with the streaming service and will be developed by John Wick writer Derek Kolstad. Splinter Cell is another successful video game franchise based on one of Tom Clancy’s original series, which has inspired seven separate video game titles based on seven books in the series.
12 The Division (TBA)
A Video Game Adaptation About Of Post-Apocalyptic World
The Division has been stuck in the development stage for years despite having ties to Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain starring in the movie. The feature film is based on five original Tom Clancy books and a popular video game series. The plot of The Division might be the determining factor in the production’s stagnation since it focuses on a global pandemic virus.
The movie is expected to follow a group of civilians who are trained to search for survivors in a post-catastrophic world. If the film does get made, it would make a great addition to the universe with a star-studded cast that would elevate the Tom Clancy franchise to even greater heights.
