John Krasinski from 'The Office' to portray Tom Clancy's 'Jack Ryan' on Amazon Prime Series Release Date and News

Aug 19, 2016 08:57 AM EDT

Tom Clancy really created a character who is willing to fight for what is right for America with Jack Ryan. He has been the star of many books before the author passed away in 2013, and has been portrayed in films by four different proven actors. He is about to be portrayed by John Krasinski, and this is what is known about the new Jack Ryan series release date and news.

According to Zap2it, Amazon has already greenlit a 10-episode appropriated named Jack Ryan, and it is starring John Krasinski. If that name sounds familiar to you, then you were probably a big fan of The Office. His character of Jim Halpert was a very easygoing person, but he was noble and likable, and eventually quite determined.

This is one of those times when one would think that this is terrible casting. After all, when most people think of Jack Ryan, they think of a very patriotic hero who would fit in well in any action film. The interesting thing is that Krasinski was in the Michael Bay film 13 Hours, so he has some experience in action.

However, when I think Jack Ryan, I don't think Jim from The Office. Jack Ryan was first created by Tom Clancy for The Hunt for Red October, and the 1984 book was a runaway hit. Of course, it was made into a movie in 1990, and Alec Baldwin was the first actor to portray the now iconic character on screen. The film was also a hit, and inspired sequels that were also adapted from Tom Clancy's works including Patriot Games (1992) and A Clear and Present Danger (1994). For those films, the actor portraying him was the one and only Harrison Ford, who definitely did quite the job on it.

Then the backward step was taken as Ben Affleck was chosen to play Jack Ryan in The Sum of All Fears. This adaptation was from a later Jack Ryan novel, but for some reason, the film decided to de-age Jack Ryan's character and reboot him. Then again, this film was fraught with problems after 9/11, and then another backward step was taken.

Chris Pine was an even younger actor to play the iconic character, for Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. In this case, he was a young covert CIA analyst, uncovering a Russian plot to crash the U.S. Economy with a terrorist attack. The film received mixed reviews, and it wasn't any adaptation of any book. The sad part is the film was release months after the death of creator Tom Clancy, and the second reboot proved to almost kill this character's franchise.

This is why I can't help but doubt John Krasinski portraying this role, because it is the third reboot. I realize that John is a good actor, and can play other roles other than the one that he is most known for. However, Jack Ryan was known for his ability to stand up to injustice, and it requires a lot of presence. The issue is that Jim Halpert was known for being slightly weak, often masking is lack of accomplishments with a lot of humor. However, is it possible that this world needs another generation of Jack Ryan, and perhaps John Krasinski is just the man for the job.

There is not an specific release date for Jack Ryan, but I'm looking forward to seeing John Krasinski's performance and take on the character.