What a gift the recent Academy Awards must have been for Disney’s upcoming series, American Born Chinese. It was there that Everything Everywhere All At Once stars Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan both won Oscars, pleasing the millions of fans who had been rooting for them. And now just weeks later they are reunited for the adapation of Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel about a teen boy’s coming-of-age during a battle of Chinese mythological figures.
Besides Yeoh and Quan, the series stars Ben Wang, Yeo Yann Yann, Chin Han, Jimmy Liu, Sydney Taylor, and Daniel Wu as Monkey King Sun Wukong.
Here is the synopsis: Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Gene Luen Yang, “American Born Chinese” chronicles the trials and tribulations of a regular American teenager whose life is forever changed when he befriends the son of a mythological god. This is the story of a young man’s battle for his own identity, told through family, comedy, and action-packed Kung-Fu.
Another EEAAO alum, Stephanie Hsu, plays goddess Shiji Niangniang, with James Hong as Jade Emperor, Jimmy O. Yang as Dragon God, Leonard Wu as Bull Demon, Poppy Liu as Princess Iron Fan, Hong Huifang as the nine-tailed fox. The Daily Show‘s Ronny Chieng and Turning Red voice actress Rosalie Chiang also appear.
Ronny Chieng as Ji Gong; Jimmy O. Yang as Dragon King, Ao Guang; James Hong as Jade Emperor; Leonard Wu as Niu Mowang, or Bull Demon; and Poppy Liu as Princess Iron fan. Lisa Lu and Rosalie Chaing also star in the series.
The series was created by Emmy-winning Bob’s Burgers writer Kelvin Yu, with episodes directed by Shang-Chi‘s Destin Daniel Cretton and Lucy Liu.
American Born Chinese hits Disney+ on May 24th.