It feels like if there’s a big, highly-anticipated, massively popular action property, it inevitably ends up in the hands of Tom Cruise.

Jack Reacher is the latest to find its way into Cruise’s circle of interest, a decision that’s already causing no small amount of consternation with fans of Lee Child’s hulking hero.

According to Deadline, Paramount and Skydance are negotiating with Cruise to star in One Shot, the big screen debut of Reacher.   It’s been kicking around for awhile, and it’s set to be directed by Cruise favorite, Christopher McQuarrie.

Cruise is a fine action star.  I won’t dispute that, even if he’s lost a lot of his gloss for me in recent years.   Nor can I pretend to be a massive fan of the Reacher series. But I know what the character is — a massive, intimidating hulk of a man whose ripples of muscle scream “Yes, I was once a military policeman, how can you tell?”    There’s a reason Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was a fan favorite for the role, and Cruise’s name never came within a million miles of it.

However, Cruise has gotten the stamp of approval from Child, who insists size just doesn’t matter for the movie.   “Reacher’s size in the books is a metaphor for an unstoppable force,” Child tells Deadline, “which Cruise portrays in his own way.”

Ah. Well, who among us is brazen enough to look the gift horse in the mouth.  I could snark and say “If it isn’t important, why not just write him as an ordinary sized fellow?” but it seems more appropriate that Reacher fans pick the bones, so I’ll hand it off to you.

I should stress that the deal isn’t definite, and hinges on Cruise’s ever-busy schedule, which includes Joseph Kosinski’s Oblivion.