The world of Jack Ryan has some weird elements, but the theory that Jack Ryan is a code name explains them. The Jack Ryan stories have been rebooted several times as movies and now as a TV show on Amazon Prime. This has created contradictions and potholes around various aspects of the main character. These changes in the protagonist from one installment of the franchise to another make it difficult to understand the timeline, or whether certain movies even fit into the Ryanverse.
It is necessary to suspend disbelief over characters' actions in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan movies. Action movies are meant to entertain with explosions and feats of strength, and often sacrifice realism as a result. However, Tom Clancy movies strive to present a sense of cohesive realism, evidenced by its complicated heroes and sympathetic villains. This means that the inconsistencies created by Jack Ryan changing actors between movies and TV strain the suspension of disbelief. A theory about the name Jack Ryan can explain his personality, behavior, and appearance changes between narratives.
Jack Ryan's Personality & Appearance Constantly Change
The Hunt For Red October (1990) is the first movie based on the Jack Ryan books by Tom Clancy. In it, Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) is in his early 30s with a wife and a young daughter. He is characterized primarily as a loving father with a calm personality. He doesn't like being physical, but can hold his own if he has to. However, in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, his personality and appearance change, and again, Jack Ryan changes in Sum of All Fears. While this is highly confusing if Jack Ryan is the same man in every movie, it makes perfect sense if Jack Ryan is actually a code name for a spy.
Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) in Patriot Games and Clear And Present Danger is still a family man, but he is inexplicably in his early 50s. He appears to be calm, but quickly becomes violent if he feels threatened. Harrison Ford plays Jack Ryan as much more of an action hero than Baldwin's Ryan. Then, in Sum of All Fears, he is in his 30s again. He also seems newer to the CIA than the others. It makes sense to cast a young man as Tom Clancy's character Jack Ryan, but this varying age of the character suggests something more is afoot.
Jack Ryan's Jobs Aren't Regular Analyst Jobs
In the standard structure of the government, an analyst job in any government intelligence agency is a desk job. Analysts work within a strict set of rules. However, in Red October, Ryan goes on a mission to fight for his theory that the captain wants to defect, not start a war. He then wades into the IRA terror attack on instinct in Patriot Games. Similarly, he flies to Colombia to take action in Clear and Present Danger, where he would write a report to send to the DOD in real life. Neither of these actions by movie versions of Jack Ryan were particularly smart, but they make sense if he is a spy.
Ryan's jobs make more sense as covers than as real jobs, such as being a professor in Patriot Games or a historian in Sum of All Fears. After all, he doesn't teach much, and the Naval Academy brass doesn't seem surprised when he isn't there or has to leave. Similarly, he doesn't do any sort of history research. His actions are not even those of an analyst, much less a historian or teacher, so it is difficult to regard these supposed occupations as anything but professional cover.
Jack Ryan Breaks The Rules A Lot
Working for the government comes with many rules - and Jack Ryan breaks them a lot. He ignores orders to stop or stand down, which he would typically be disciplined for as an analyst. However, as a spy, he would have more leeway in his actions. In Patriot Games, one of the best-ranked Jack Ryan movies, he retasks a satellite, which would be impossible for an analyst to do.
He also has a level of access and autonomy a spy would have. Many of his actions would create international incidents which could send him to jail. He ignores the direct order to wait for cops in Baltimore. He commandeers the meeting in the NCMCC with Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) William Cabot (Morgan Freeman) and takes over sensitive equipment for his agenda. He then goes on to contact the Kremlin directly, defying a direct order.
Jack Ryan is Protected By The System (Usually)
Despite his rule-breaking, line-crossing, and insubordination, Ryan is usually protected, first by Admiral James Greer (James Earl Jones) in Red October, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger, and then by DCI Cabot in Sum of All Fears. These are very different Jack Ryan movies, yet they have this protection in common. The most trouble he ended up being in was being yelled at for threatening the PR man for the IRA in Patriot Games. Everything else he has done is conveniently forgotten about.
The exception is Clear And Present Danger, where he broke the unwritten rule of Washington: hold onto information, especially damaging information about his superiors. Instead, he testified against high-ranking government officials, including the President, for their illegal war in Colombia. He didn't care if he was protected and wanted to do the right thing. In Sum of All Fears, he is still CIA, but at a lower position than Acting Assistant Director, which suggests he did have some career consequences for his actions.
What Jack Ryan Being A Code Name Would Mean
Jack Ryan being a code name means that the seeming plot holes and inconsistencies surrounding the character and the Ryanverse would be resolved. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, the Amazon Prime show Jack Ryan, and the Tom Clancy shared universe movie Without Remorse can all comfortably exist in the Ryanverse.
Jack Ryan actually referring to different men reconciles the differing appearances, personalities, and family situations of the Jack Ryans in the films and TV show. After all, it makes sense for Jack Ryan to be older and then younger in a later installment if the two figures in question are different people. This understanding of the stories the Ryanverse is telling could make them more exciting to watch and better integrate the various versions of the character across the Jack Ryan franchise.