War Machine actor Alan Ritchson is responding to all the negative comments about his age.
On Instagram, Ritchson, 43, says he got a lot of comments from trolls, who told him he was too "old" to be in the Netflix movie and play a character who is in RASP (Ranger Assessment and Selection Program), even though his character's age was explained in the film.
In response, he mentioned a major change that just happened in regard to the U.S. Army, in which the maximum enlistment age was raised from 35 to 42.
"Well, guess what?" he said to his naysayers. "The U.S. just raised the enlistment age to what? 42!"
He captioned the video, "What you have to complain about now!? Old people for the win!"
In War Machine, Ritchson played a U.S. Army Ranger trainee who embarks on a deadly mission. Some other films he's appeared in are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and Fast X. He got his first "break" on American Idol.
Social media is split
Depending on which corner of the internet you're happening to be reading, some are offended by the joking about war, while fans of Ritchson's work think it's the ultimate hilarious troll.
Others don't quite know what to make of the actor, who is both a proud Christian and an outspoken critic of Donald Trump, whom he called a "rapist and con man" in 2025. Earlier this week, the actor was filmed having a physical altercation with a neighbor on the street, adding more confusion.
On X, people had mixed reactions about his video, with some calling it "disturbing." "This is incredibly cringe, he has become insufferable," one person said.
Another added, "He acts like a teenage girl lmao."
A third commented, "Wow! This dude is so full of himself… War Machine wasn’t good nor bad."
However, some of Ritchson's fans came to his defense and said they love his "funny" personality. "Love him. He's so funny AND has morals," an X user wrote.
Another talked about his 2022 TV show, Reacher, and said, "I went from liking him in Reacher to deciding he is a national treasure."
Another commented, "He genuinely seems like a good time, and I'm just waiting on him getting to do something, ANYTHING this fun or charismatic on the big screen."
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