HBO Max’s Epic 3-Season Action Show Created By Bruce Lee Is Sadly Leaving Netflix Very Soon

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Bruce Lee holding nunchuks and standing in a fighting pose in The Way of the Dragon

Published Jan 24, 2026, 6:46 PM EST

Grant Hermanns is a TV News Editor, Interview Host and Reviewer for ScreenRant, having joined the team in early 2021. He got his start in the industry with Moviepilot, followed by working at ComingSoon.net. When not indulging in his love of film/TV, Grant is making his way through his gaming backlog and exploring the world of Dungeons & Dragons with friends.

Bruce Lee was behind some of the most iconic projects in the martial arts genre, though one show that saw the light of day after his death is about to change streaming homes.

Warrior was initially conceived by Lee in the early 1970s, though failed to gain any traction until the mid-2010s when his daughter, Shannon Lee, teamed up with Banshee's Jonathan Tropper to develop the series at Cinemax, then HBO Max. The series, led by Bullet Train's Andrew Koji, explored the criminal underworld of 1870s San Francisco, during the height of the notorious Tong Wars, as martial arts prodigy Ah Sahm navigates the heated gang rivalries in an effort to find his sister.

Now, some seven years after the show first premiered on Cinemax, Warrior is going to be leaving Netflix. Beginning on February 16, the Lee-created series will no longer be available on the streaming platform, leaving its sole home to now be on HBO Max, where it originally shifted for its third and final season.

Andrew Koji and Joe Taslim face off in Warrior

Also starring The Stand's Olivia Cheng, A Thousand Blows' Jason Tobin and Descendants' Dianne Doan, Warrior was a fairly strong performer across its three seasons on the air. Having started with a generally positive 79% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, the second and third seasons would grow to acquire perfect 100% scores. The show also generated modest ratings on Cinemax, albeit on the lower end as the cable network found itself on the down and out with its original programming, which eventually resulted in its cancellation after season 3.

In spite of its cancellation, Warrior has proved to have a fairly substantial life on streaming in the years since. Netflix has had the rights to the martial arts series since 2023, where the show climbed to be in the Top 10 TV shows for some time upon its premiere. This led to calls for Netflix to revive the show much in the way they did for Lucifer, Designated Survivor and Manifest, including from Tobin.

Despite these hopes, star Joe Taslim offered a pretty definitive update on Warrior season 4's chances in late 2024, confirming season 3 "is our last season" and that they weren't being given "the chance to continue the story." With the action show now about to depart Netflix entirely, it does further hammer home the likelihood that it won't be brought back any time soon.

Andrew Koji as Ah Sahm, Jason Tobin as Young Jun & Olivia Cheng as Ah Toy from HBO's Warrior (2019)

10 Reasons Warrior Season 4 Still Needs To Happen (& Why Netflix Should Save It)

Saved from cancelation once before, Warrior's three seasons are on Netflix — an indication that the streamer should green-light Warrior season 4.

However, the one potential saving grace for Warrior to potentially return again in the future is the impending Netflix acquisition of Warner Bros. and much of its properties. Though the streaming giant has indicated that HBO Max will continue to operate independently for the time being, should they decide to consolidate everything into one platform, they could revisit the Lee-created show's performance on Netflix and HBO Max and consider giving it another go.