'Warrior' Renewed for Season 3 and Getting New Streaming Home

Warrior will live to fight another day. The martial arts drama was officially renewed — or, revived — by HBO Max on Wednesday. The news comes over a year after Warrior's original home, Cinemax, stopped producing original content, effectively canceling the series.

Warrior premiered on Cinemax in 2019, with the second season in 2020 and a debut on HBO Max's streaming service in January of 2021. Since then, fans have been calling on WarnerMedia to renew the series on a new home, and the company seems to have done just that. According to a report by TV Line, the show will now be a Max Original, airing exclusively on the company's streaming service. HBO Max's chief content officer Casey Bloys issued a public statement on the renewal.

"Warrior introduced viewers to a distinct world from the past, executed with dynamic action and relevant storytelling, with a brilliant cast led by Andrew Koji," he said. "We can't wait to see what [executive producers] Jonathan [Tropper], Justin [Lin] and Shannon [Lee] will bring to the next chapter of this series on HBO Max."

Warrior is based on an original TV treatment by Bruce Lee written in the 1970s, which was officially turned down by studios. However, in her memoir Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew, Lee's widow Linda Lee Caldwell accused Warner Bros. TV of stealing the idea for the show Kung Fu, which starred David Carradine instead of Lee. Decades later, Lee's daughter Shannon Lee and Fast & Furious director Justin Lin revived Lee's idea — and in today's era of streaming and prestige TV, it can be more realistic and gritty than networks would have allowed half a century ago.

"Justin, Jonathan, and I were thrilled when Warrior was put on HBO platforms to be discovered by a whole new legion of fans," said Shannon Lee on Tuesday. "Now we are excited and grateful for the opportunity to do another season, and we applaud HBO Max for understanding the importance of telling this story and for continuing to support this level of representation in our industry. I just know that my father is grinning right now to see this show he dreamed of so long ago continuing to beat the odds. We have every intention of delivering the same high level of meaningful storytelling and Gung Fu action in season 3!"

In an interview with PopCulture.com this past January, Shannon Lee promised one exciting cameo if Warrior was renewed. She said: "here's the thing — why Season 3 needs to get going is because [stunt coordinator] Brett Chan and I were talking, and we were saying 'okay, well, if we get a third season, we're going to have to get you in a cameo.' The two of us, we'll have to fight each other in Season 3. And I was like 'alright if we get a Season 3, I'm in.' I have to start training."

Hopefully, Lee and Chan are brushing up now because Warrior Season 3 is on the way. The first two seasons are streaming now on HBO Max.