Netflix has released several major action movies in recent years, often with big budgets and bigger stars. These range from The Gray Man with Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling, to Red Notice with Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds. While both pulled in well over 100 million views (and over 200m in the case of the latter), neither has received a sequel. Instead, the streamer’s biggest, bona fide action franchise is Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction, which has two movies with well over 200m views combined, and more on the way. The Thor actor stars as Tyler Rake, a mercenary who, as the title suggests, performs high-risk extraction or rescue missions.
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There are ambitious plans for Extraction, including a spinoff series led by Omar Sy (Lupin, Jurassic World) and created and written by former The Walking Dead showrunner Glen Mazzara. The show will follow Sy’s character, also a mercenary, as he takes on a dangerous mission to save hostages in Libya, facing warring criminals while also dealing with his own traumatic past. Netflix has released the first behind-the-scenes photo of him, which you can see below.
The streamer has also now confirmed the title of the show, Mercenary: An Extraction Series, along with the news that Louise Hooper (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Sandman) and Tim Southam (Foundation, One Piece) will each helm four of the show’s eight episodes.
Netflix Has Big Plans For The Extraction Franchise
Mercenary looks set to be a major series for Netflix, and likely another hit. There’s a stacked cast alongside Sy, including Boyd Holbrook, Natalie Dormer, Waleed Zuaiter, Ed Speleers, and Sacha Dhawa. Like the Extraction movies, it’s produced by the Russo Brothers’ company, AGBO, and if it can match the same level of action as Extraction – which is best known for its incredible one-shot sequences – then it’ll be doing well, but there’s more to come besides.
As well as Mercenary, Netflix recently confirmed another Extraction spinoff, titled TYGO. Continuing the theme of this being a globetrotting franchise, the movie will take the action to South Korea, following a former child soldier who is now a mercenary. There’s another impressive cast, including Don Lee (Train to Busan, Eternals), Lee Jin-uk (Squid Game) and BLACKPINK’s Lisa (The White Lotus). The movie will be directed by Lee Sang-yong, from a script by Cha Woo-jin.
Beyond the spinoffs, the mainline series will also continue with Extraction 3, which will bring back Hemsworth’s Tyler Rake and once again be directed by Sam Hargrave. Filming is expected to begin in 2026, with a likely release of 2027, which also seems a decent bet for when we might see Mercenary as well. It remains to be seen whether there’ll be any direct crossovers between the Hemsworth movies and the spinoffs but, if it continues to be successful, it seems like there could be a lot more room for the franchise to grow, and Netflix clearly has a lot of faith in it.
The first two Extraction movies are available to stream on Netflix.
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