The only thing I or anybody else should need to know about Netflix’s new series Wu Assassins is that it stars Iko Uwais. Check. Please. Uwais is the star of the two best action movies in recent memory, The Raid and The Raid 2, not to mention impressively kicking ass in Beyond Skyline. He’ll likely upstage Mark Wahlberg in next month’s Mile 22, as well.
Netflix has ordered up Wu Assassins which hails from writer John Wirth (The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and Stephen Fung (Tai Chi 0) who will direct the first two episodes. There will be 10 total episodes in the first season. Uwais will play an aspiring chef (!!!) “who becomes the latest and last Wu Assassin, chosen to round up the powers of an ancient triad and restore balance once again.”
So it’s like Kitchen Confidential meets Into the Badlands, and that’s okay with me.
Uwais will have a vast amount of creative input, as well. He’ll not only star but act as the show’s fight choreographer and stunt coordinator, as well as producer. Also part of the cast is Byron Mann, a Hong Kong actor you may recognize from The Man with the Iron Fists, The Big Short, and AMC’s Hell on Wheels.
Production on Wu Assassins begins in August, and I can only hope they ask Gareth Evans to direct an episode. ::fingers crossed::
