Stream The Gray Man now on Netflix

There are a few things you need to know about The Gray Man: He’s dangerous. He’s on the run. And not only is he off the books, he’s based on one. 

That’s right, the lead character of the new Russo brothers action thriller started out on the page, in Mark Greaney’s 2009 novel of the same name. In actuality, Court Gentry (played by Ryan Gosling in the film) originated even earlier, in the author’s unpublished first novel, Goon Squad. In that manuscript, Gentry was a supporting character — until Greaney got some unsolicited advice. 

“I actually submitted that to an agent, who read it and told me that I should rewrite the whole book. He said there was a character I could use, this Court Gentry guy,” Greaney told The Real Book Spy. “This guy, who wasn’t even my agent yet, said, ‘If you wrote a whole other book and made that subplot about all these guys chasing him as the center of it, where he has to run from this gauntlet of assassins, that would be a kick-ass book.'”

Paul Abell/Netflix

Greaney wrote said kick-ass book, and the rest is history. Court Gentry (aka Sierra Six) is a classic action hero, and a worthy successor to the literary spies of yesteryear. He’s got a dash of Jack Reacher’s brawn, a bit of Jack Ryan’s brain, and a whole lot of Jason Bourne’s knack for attracting enemies. In real life, Greaney’s novels even have a stamp of approval from Tom Clancy, the man behind The Hunt for Red October: After collaborating with Clancy on three novels, Greaney was the writer chosen by Clancy’s estate to continue the Jack Ryan saga after the author’s death in 2013.

There’s no word yet on a potential Gray Man sequel, but should the Russos choose to continue Gentry’s story, they’ll have plenty of source material to mine from: Greaney has already written eleven novels featuring the character, with a twelfth due early next year. The journey to the film has been paved with stops and starts over the past decade, but Greaney has remained committed to seeing it come to life. At one point he even went as far as engaging in a little bit of Six fancasting. “Chris Pratt would be my first choice,” he said regarding Gentry back in 2018. Sorry, Mark — but hopefully you’ll be happy with a certain other Hollywood Chris in the co-starring role.

‘The Gray Man’ TrailerIt's Ryan Gosling vs. Chris Evans in the global action spy thriller directed by Anthony and Joe Russo.