Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Electric ‘Man on Fire’ Adaptation Is a Perfect Binge for ‘Reacher’ Fans

You can’t throw a rock in Hollywood without hitting a remake — whether a loose franchise continuation or a full creative reboot, interest in mining new stories from what’s been excavated at least once before hasn’t waned in the slightest. If anything, the increasing frequency with which major studios are readapting their original films into a wholly new format is an indication that remakes aren’t a trend with a limited shelf life. The quality factor, however, is another story altogether. Some remakes feel entirely designed around a studio’s frantic desire to retain rights ownership, rushed into production and ultimately destined to become forgotten, while others actually breathe new life into an older story, making welcome changes that, in some cases, serve as a significant improvement on the source material.

It’s difficult to say whether anyone had a new Man on Fire adaptation on their wishlist for 2026, and while showrunner Kyle Killen‘s updated take on the classic novel by A.J. Quinnell doesn’t necessarily reinvent the wheel, it’s got a few things working in its favor. Specifically, an increasingly incendiary lead performance from Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, several thrilling setpieces, and a few stakes-raising twists late in the game make the series a highly enjoyable binge for action-hungry viewers patiently waiting for a new season of Reacher.

What Is ‘Man on Fire’ About?

Special Forces mercenary John Creasy (Abdul-Mateen II) is one of the best at what he does — that is, until a seemingly by-the-book mission in Mexico City unexpectedly goes sideways, resulting in the deaths of his entire team. After leaving the field, Creasy is still navigating the lingering effects of PTSD from the incident, unable to sleep without experiencing nightmares, drinking on the job while operating a warehouse loader, and even grappling with severe suicidal ideation, all of which culminate in a desperate attempt to free himself from his lowest point yet. When longtime friend and former colleague, Paul Rayburn (Bobby Cannavale), suggests that Creasy stay with him and his family for a while, it doubles as an opportunity for Creasy’s recovery as well as a potential path for redemption. Creasy isn’t the only one who harbors immense skepticism about a relocation to Brazil; Paul’s teenage daughter, Poe (Billie Boullet, A Small Light), is still moping about having to say goodbye to all of her friends after being uprooted by her father’s job.

Creasy’s convalescence, however, is short-lived when a group of bombers targets a residential skyscraper in the heart of Brazil, leading to mass destruction and devastation. In the aftermath, it’s clear those responsible didn’t want to leave anyone alive — so the situation becomes even more critical when Creasy discovers that Poe, who’d snuck out past curfew to go to a party, is the sole witness to the bombing. Now, Creasy finds himself unexpectedly pulled back into doing what he does best while he’s not exactly at his best, and he’s hardly prepared to put his life on the line for anyone when he’s still struggling to open up to anyone. Fortunately, he has more than one new ally at his disposal, including Valeria Melo (Alice Braga), a professional driver linked to a local gang with the manpower and firepower to aid Creasy in his hunt, and CIA field agent Henry Tappan (Scoot McNairy), who struggles to defend Creasy’s out-of-the-box methods to his superiors while juggling more than one secret of his own. With Poe’s safety on the line, there’s nothing Creasy won’t stop at to keep her safe, even if it means burning every one of the city’s most notorious villains in the process.

Netflix’s ‘Man on Fire’ Adaptation Is a Slow-Burn Action Thriller

Despite the relatively explosive nature of Man on Fire‘s first episode, which begins by flashing back to Creasy’s most defining loss and culminates in the present day’s inciting incident, Netflix’s new adaptation is more of a slow burn than an instantaneous firestorm. It makes sense in the context of the narrative; Creasy is a man who’s still nursing his wounds when he’s introduced, even if all physical signs of injury have long since healed, and it’s taken a toll not only on his mental capacity but also his professional skill. Nowhere is this clearer than in the scene where he accompanies Rayburn on what is, by all accounts, a potential job interview; when Creasy is ordered to field strip a gun down to all of its individual parts, a task he was once able to complete in mere seconds, he falters, his hands visibly shaking with tremors. It sets up Man on Fire‘s leading character as not just a reluctant hero, but a traumatized man facing his own personal demons while immersed in near-identical circumstances to what first conjured them.

The overall benefit, too, of Man on Fire‘s longer series approach (of which all seven episodes were provided for review) allows the story to delve that much deeper into character, both in terms of individual growth and shared development. Early on, the show establishes that Creasy and Poe’s history goes back several years to his own defining memory of Rayburn’s daughter, but their trust in each other doesn’t appear nearly as quickly as that single recollection. It takes both characters learning how to fight countless threats before they realize they’re stronger together than apart. Aging Poe up from a child, as well, gives her more agency in the story, rather than turning her into a helpless ward getting dragged around by more competent parties; one of the series’ biggest twists even hinges on her ability to successfully recall a critical reveal minutes before the bombing.

Poe also could have become little more than a teenaged annoyance in lesser hands, but Boullet is afforded plenty of opportunity to showcase different sides of her character, particularly through an unlikely friendship with the young Livro (Jefferson Batista), whose innocence is also tested through his familial connection to the local gangs; Batista becomes one of the series’ greatest surprises, delivering a nuanced performance that should make several casting directors sit up and take notice.

While Poe and Creasy’s evolving alliance is undoubtedly the heart of the story, Braga’s Valeria Melo serves as a welcome voice of reason in any scene she’s in, and the series thankfully avoids the more predictable genre pitfall of reducing her to a love interest, giving her more compelling personal stakes in Creasy’s self-appointed mission. Initially, McNairy’s character reads more like a stereotypical law enforcement insert, but the closer Creasy gets to uncovering the true conspiracy behind the bombing, the more elusive Tappan’s real motivations become, and the more McNairy gets to flex a wider range in the process. Beyond them, it occasionally feels like there are too many side characters for the show to successfully juggle, especially when their subplots borrow time away from the most interesting parts of the narrative, but none of them ever overstay their welcome.

‘Man on Fire’ Cements Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as a Bonafide Action Star

Image via Netflix

What Man on Fire does ultimately succeed as a showcase for, amidst the narrative’s twists and turns, is Abdul-Mateen II’s undeniable magnetism as both a leading man and an action star. There are glimmers of Creasy’s capabilities early on, but they’re submerged beneath the character’s immense pain and grief, as well as the blame he’s put on his own shoulders. The skyscraper bombing represents an equally personal situation, and while it’s hard not to long for more calm before the storm, especially since Abdul-Mateen II and Cannavale have such a great onscreen rapport, kicking things off with a literal bang allows Man on Fire to hit the ground running without dragging its feet too long in the lead-up.

Of course, there are also plenty of thrilling setpieces that help to maintain the pace of the show’s action — including a prison break amid security lockdown, an attempted plane hijacking, and an unrelenting hospital firefight, to name a few — and Abdul-Mateen II brings all the energy required and then some. Yet the moments when you can’t tear your eyes away from him are when Creasy is most visibly struggling to put one foot in front of the other. He’s not always physically imposing, not looming intimidatingly in every scene, but his presence is undeniable nonetheless. Creasy’s breakdown is inevitable, especially while he’s in full fight-or-flight mode (emphasis on the fighting), and Abdul-Mateen II displays every crack in the character’s carefully constructed facade, peeling back new layers until his most personal battle becomes just as imperative to resolve as the greater conspiracy that threatens everyone he still holds dear.

There’s catharsis by Man on Fire‘s conclusion, as any good action show should offer, but there’s also the bittersweet reminder that no amount of revenge will ever be sufficient to fully heal grief. The series also can’t resist the temptation to sow the seeds for a potential sequel, and while it would be incredibly tempting to see Abdul-Mateen II return to a role that he successfully makes his own, Man on Fire‘s only season to date is a thriller adaptation that’s confident in its story, characters, and action, one that may not even necessarily need to be diluted by a continuation.

Man on Fire is now streaming on Netflix.

Release Date

April 30, 2026

Network

Netflix

Showrunner

Kyle Killen

Directors

Steven Caple Jr., Vicente Amorim, Clare Kilner, Michael Cuesta

Writers

Kyle Killen

Pros & Cons

• Yahya Abdul-Mateen II cements himself as an action star with a tremendous leading performance, making the character of John Creasy his own.
• Several exciting setpieces maintain the show’s action at a steady pace, culminating in an unrelenting hospital shootout.
• The show’s biggest twist about who’s really responsible for the bombing completely upends expectations.

• There are a few too many side characters than the show knows what to do with.
• The series can’t help setting up the potential for a sequel in the finale, even though Man on Fire could easily be a satisfying miniseries.