5 TV Shows To Watch If You Like Netflix's Man On Fire

One little-known fact about the 2004 movie "Man on Fire" is that it was the second time the novel of the same name had been adapted. Before Denzel Washington played John Creasy, Scott Glenn played a version of the former C.I.A. agent in a forgotten 1987 adaptation. And now, in 2026, A.J. Quinnell's 1980 thriller about a mercenary drawn back into action on a revenge mission is a Netflix original series. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II brings Creasy to the small screen for the first time, with this version of the character being a former U.S. Army Special Forces Captain.

Netflix's "Man on Fire" was an instant hit, becoming the most-watched show on the streaming service in almost 50 countries in its first weekend of release. As always happens when a show becomes hugely popular, there's already been talk of whether or not there will be a Season 2 of "Man on Fire" — the fact that Season 1 ended on a cliffhanger makes a second season seem likely. However, Netflix has yet to make an announcement on that front, meaning that even if a second season is forthcoming, it's still some way off.

Luckily, there are a handful of other action crime thrillers built around a highly skilled protagonist seeking professional and personal revenge to check out in the meantime. These five shows should keep fans of "Man on Fire" occupied as they wait for an official Season 2 confirmation.

When it comes to characters whose entire gimmick is built around avenging slain loved ones, Marvel's The Punisher is definitely one of the most iconic. Though the details vary a bit depending on the version, the shared baseline commonality is that a military veteran named Frank Castle witnesses his family get murdered by criminals, at which point he becomes an uncompromising vigilante who takes the law into his own hands as a one-man judge, jury, and executioner. 

After making his debut on the hit Netflix series "Daredevil," Punisher (Jon Bernthal) got his own solo series in 2017. It ran for two seasons and saw the character take on powerful crime lords that were a mix of legacy characters and new creations for the series. Whether you're an existing Punisher fan or would be meeting the character for the first time, both seasons of "The Punisher" are a darkly satisfying watch for fans of violent, street-level justice.

As of this writing, a one-off Disney+ special called "The Punisher: One Last Kill" is right around the corner and will see Bernthal reprise the titular role, picking up from where the character's arc left off at the end of Season 1 of "Daredevil: Born Again," in which he also appears. And that's without mentioning his supporting role in the upcoming film "Spider-Man: Brand New Day." Basically, if you fall in love with Bernthal's Frank Castle, there's a lot of existing and upcoming material for you to get stuck into.

The Amazon Prime Video series "The Terminal List" follows Navy SEAL James Reece (Chris Pratt), who is mourning not only the murder of his entire platoon but also his wife and daughter. In order to get to the bottom of both incidents — which, not surprisingly, end up being related — Reece follows every thread that has even the slightest chance of being connected to the flurry of deaths that have destroyed his life.

It's a dark premise, and it only gets darker as Reece goes further down the rabbit hole. Not that revenge thrillers are typically full of light comedic moments, but "The Terminal List" in particular seems especially grueling in that regard. It's a change of pace for Pratt, who is usually cast in roles specifically so he can bring some of his trademark wit and charm to proceedings along with his muscles.

There's a lot of doom and gloom here, but if you don't mind that (or you're actively seeking that), then "The Terminal List" is an engrossing watch for thriller TV fans. This is a well-made series that has one of the deeper storylines for the genre. A prequel series called "The Terminal List: Dark Wolf," which focuses on Taylor Kitsch's Chief Special Warfare Operator Benjamin "Ben" Edwards, came out in 2025, and "The Terminal List" Season 2 is currently in production, with the expectation being that it will be out by the end of 2026. 

One of the things that unites all of these revenge thriller shows is that the bad guys in each one end up learning one very big lesson the hard way — that they crossed someone who possesses a particular set of skills and will make them rue the day they made themselves the targets of their revenge. There's perhaps no better example of this formula than "Taken," the 2017 TV adaption of the Liam Neeson action thriller movie of the same name that first made famous that iconic "particular set of skills" line.

The series takes place before the first "Taken" film and serves as an origin story for Bryan Mills (Clive Standen), showing in part how the Neeson version of the character first learned all those skills. And it turns out that said learning of skills was also the result of a personal tragedy that called for revenge, which is how he knew his way around navigating that situation so precisely in the film. This time, his sister is killed in what is believed to be a random act of violence by terrorists, and his moves to get to the bottom of her murder puts him on the C.I.A's radar.

Wisely, Standen doesn't try to do a Liam Neeson impression here. Rather, he makes young Bryan Mills his own, playing a version of the character that is far from the polished, calculated agent that we see in the movies. That being said, he still brings the appropriate gravitas and action chops for this surprisingly solid companion piece to the film franchise.

Multiple actors have portrayed Jack Reacher, the military policeman-turned-roving vigilante from author Lee Child's long running series of books. The current Jack Reacher is Alan Ritchson, who has been playing the character on the Amazon Prime Video series "Reacher" since 2022 for three seasons and counting. We likely won't see a Jack Reacher movie with Alan Ritchson per the actor himself, as he feels his particular portrayal of the character and the version of the Jack Reacher universe he gets to play in are better suited to TV. Considering how good "Reacher" has been so far, we can't say we disagree — we'd much rather see additional seasons of "Reacher" than a couple of films.

Season 1 of "Reacher" sees the titular character seek to topple an entire corrupt Georgia town in solving the murder of his brother. Season 2 has him taking revenge against those he believes murdered members of his former military unit. And Season 3 initially seems as though it isn't going to involve personal vengeance at all, though figures from his past inevitably become involved.

To Ritchson's point, the format of the show — which allows each season to essentially tell its own complete story — feels like the perfect way to adapt Lee Child's books to the screen. Each one has followed a specific Jack Reacher novel, with the forthcoming fourth season set to be based upon "Gone Tomorrow."

It's not always men that are wronged and need to seek revenge in thriller shows. It's also not only in English that revenge tales are told on the small screen. South Korea, a nation that definitely knows a thing or two about satisfying stories of vengeance (just look at the ending of Park Chan-wook's "Old Boy"), delivered one of the most underrated revenge shows in recent memory with 2021's Netflix original "My Name." Unfortunately, it hit the streamer the month after "Squid Game," so it got overshadowed and didn't get nearly as much attention or promotion as it deserved.

After her gang member father is murdered, Yoon Ji-woo (Han So-hee) is frustrated when the police fail to find his killer. Deciding to find out who killed her dad and get her own justice, she utilizes both her connections to her late father's gang as well as a friend she has in the police department to carry out her mission. Thus begins her struggle to not only find the truth, but also resist the allure of the gang and the power being offered to her by its influential boss.

"My Name" is full of double crosses, questionable alliances, and a lot of extremely well-crafted action — all buoyed by the dynamite performance of Han in the lead role. Don't be surprised if you race through all eight episodes of "My Name" in just one or two sittings, as it's a ride that's hard to get off of once it has grabbed hold of you.