After already playing a slew of heroes and villains, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is about to take on a new action hero role. Reports have confirmed that Abdul-Mateen II will star in and executive produce Man on Fire, Netflix’s upcoming television adaptation of the classic book series. Abdul-Mateen II will play John Creasy, the protagonist of A.J. Quinnell’s five-book series that began with 1980’s Man on Fire.
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Steven Caple Jr. (Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, Creed II) will direct the first two episodes of the Man on Fire series, and also serve as an executive producer. The series is written, executive produced, and showrun by Fear Street‘s Kyle Killen. Executive producers include Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan and Natalie Lehmann for New Regency Productions, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and Tracey Cook for Chernin Entertainment; and Killen and Scott Pennington for Chapter Eleven. Caple, Ed McDonnell, Michael Polaire and Abdul-Mateen II.
What Is Man on Fire About?
Man on Fire, follows John Creasy, a once high-functioning and skilled Special Forces mercenary known for surviving even the most desolate of situations. Creasy is now plagued with intense PTSD. Determined to overcome his personal demons, he sets out on a path to redemption. But before he can adjust to this new life, he finds himself back in the fire, fighting harder than ever.
This new Netflix series will be the latest adaptation of Man on Fire, following an Italian feature film in 1987 and an American film in 2004 starring Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning.
Will Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Join the MCU?
Abdul-Mateen II is lined up to play Simon Williams / Wonder Man in Marvel Studios’ Wonder Man, a new Disney+ series that will be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Marvel Spotlight banner. The series will be directed by The Spectacular Now and Shrinking‘s James Ponsoldt, The Photograph‘s Stella Meghie, and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty‘s Destin Daniel Cretton, who is directing and executive producing the show through his first-look deal with Marvel.
“[Wonder Man will] be definitely influenced by the comics. One of the things that we’re excited about it is that it’s going to feel very unique. It’s not going to feel like anything you’ve quite seen in the MCU before,” Marvel producer Steven Broussard previously shared. “And the kind of stories we can tell on Disney+, which has been fun. Like streaming, serialized storytelling is a totally different muscle. So, we’re having a blast making that one.”
h/t: Deadline
