Michael Fassbender's Assassin's Creed Film Returns to Streaming Ahead of Netflix Series

Ahead of Netflix's upcoming adaptation of this popular video game franchise, its first film adaptation will find a new streaming home next month. Despite receiving negative reviews from critics and mixed reactions from audiences, the movie grossed over $240.7 million worldwide. With a new series on the horizon, now is the perfect time to revisit the franchise's first big-screen outing.

The franchise in question is Assassin's Creed, created by Ubisoft. First released in 2007, this science fiction franchise follows a centuries-long conflict between the Assassins, who fight to preserve free will, and the Templars, who seek to establish peace through control. The franchise spans numerous historical periods, including the Crusades, the Islamic Golden Age, the French Revolution, the Viking era, and most recently, Japan's Sengoku Period, and has released 14 mainline games, each featuring different Assassins.

In 2016, a film adaptation of Assassin's Creed was released, directed by Justin Kurzel and starring Michael Fassbender as Callum Lynch, a man taken captive by the Abstergo Foundation because he is a descendant of Aguilar de Nerha (also played by Fassbender), an Assassin who lived during the Spanish Inquisition. The movie also stars Marion Cotillard (The Dark Knight Rises), Jeremy Irons (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Brendan Gleeson (Spider-Noir), Charlotte Rampling (Dune: Part Three), and Michael K. Williams (2016's Ghostbusters). The film tells an original story set in the universe of Ubisoft's video game franchise, and in November 2026, it will be available to stream on Hulu. Assassin's Creed was poorly received by critics and received mixed-to-negative reactions from audiences, earning an 18% critics' score and a 42% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics largely panned the movie, which continued Hollywood's trend of poorly received video game adaptations.

What Do We Know About Netflix's 'Assassin's Creed' Adaptation?

In 2020, Netflix announced that it was producing a live-action adaptation of Assassin's Creed. The series stars Toby Wallace (Euphoria), alongside Lola Petticrew, Zachary Hart, Laura Marcus (The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping), Tanzyn Crawford (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), Claes Bang, and Nabhaan Rizwan (Kaos). Just like the film adaptation, the Netflix series will feature an original story set in the game's established universe. However, this time, the story will take place in Ancient Rome in 64 AD. Roberto Patino and David Wiener serve as showrunners, and production began in March 2026. As of writing, a release date has yet to be announced, and it's currently unknown how many episodes the series will have.

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