Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is officially stepping into one of the most iconic, emotionally bruised roles in modern action storytelling. Netflix has unveiled a first-look image of Abdul-Mateen as John Creasy in its upcoming series Man on Fire, and the transformation speaks for itself.
Disheveled, weapon in hand, and visibly worn down by life, Abdul-Mateen’s Creasy looks like a man who’s survived hell — and isn’t done fighting yet.
The eight-episode drama is inspired by A.J. Quinnell’s Man on Fire novels, drawing primarily from the first two books in the five-part Creasy series: Man on Fire and The Perfect Kill. At its core, the story centers on Creasy, a once-elite Special Forces mercenary who is highly capable but deeply scarred, living with intense PTSD and trying to outrun his past. When we meet him, he’s searching for redemption and some version of peace — until circumstances drag him right back into violence, forcing him to confront both external threats and his own demons.
This new adaptation expands beyond the 2004 film, digging deeper into Creasy’s psyche and long arc rather than telling a single chapter of his story.
The series comes from writer and showrunner Kyle Killen (Halo), with Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) directing the first two episodes. Both serve as executive producers alongside Abdul-Mateen, who is also producing through his RedRum banner. Additional executive producers include Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan, Natalie Lehmann, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Tracey Cook, Scott Pennington, Ed McDonnell, Michael Polaire, and Stacy Perskie.
The supporting cast includes Bobby Cannavale, Billie Boullet, Alice Braga, Scoot McNairy, and Paul Ben-Victor.
For many, John Creasy is inseparable from Denzel Washington’s unforgettable performance in Tony Scott’s 2004 film adaptation, which has since become a staple of cable and streaming rewatches. That film itself wasn’t the first adaptation — Scott Glenn portrayed a version of the character in a lesser-known 1987 Italian film — but Washington’s take cemented Creasy as a pop culture antihero. Netflix’s series aims to honor that legacy while giving the character room to evolve across multiple episodes.
Man on Fire is one of two major projects Abdul-Mateen has hitting in the same year. He’ll also star in Marvel Television’s Wonder Man, where he plays Simon Williams — an aspiring actor navigating Hollywood while unknowingly developing real-life superpowers. That eight-episode series leans into industry satire and superhero spectacle and is set to debut January 27, 2026, with all episodes dropping at once.
Netflix has not yet announced an exact release date for Man on Fire, but the series is expected to premiere sometime in 2026. Between Creasy’s grounded brutality and Simon Williams’ meta superhero chaos, 2026 is shaping up to be a defining year for Abdul-Mateen — one that fully showcases his range, intensity, and leading-man era.