New Karate Kid Movie Adds Star Wars and Marvel's Ming-Na Wen
Ming-Na Wen joins the stacked cast of Sony's next Karate Kid.
The cast of the new Karate Kid film continues to get stronger. Sony's next installment in the Karate Kid franchise was an exciting venture from the jump, initially announced as a vehicle starring both Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan, combining the two different eras of the films. Now, fan-favorite Marvel and Star Wars star Ming-Na Wen has also joined the film's roster.
According to Variety, Wen will star in the new Karate Kid movie alongside Macchio, Chan, Ben Wang, and Joshua Jackson. Details about Wen's role in the film are being kept under wraps, as are most plot points.
Wen is known for portraying Melinda May in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, as well as Fennec Shand in the Star Wars universe, appearing in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. She also provided the voice for the titular hero in Disney's animated Mulan.
The new Karate Kid film is hitting theaters on December 13th of this year. The film is being directed by I Am Not Okay With This and The End of the F—ing World helmer Jonathan Entwistle. The screenplay is written by Rob Lieber and Karen Rosenfelt is producing.
Karate Kid Universe
While there hasn't been a new Karate Kid movie in over a decade, the franchise has been incredibly popular in recent years thanks to Netflix's hit TV series Cobra Kai. The series is a continuation of The Karate Kid films, featuring Macchio and William Zabka reprising their roles as Daniel and Johnny, respectively.
The series is coming to an end with its upcoming sixth season, but producing trio Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald have been open about the possibility of additional spinoffs.
"We will never give actual closure when it comes to anything," Heald told Collider. "We love working in the Cobra Kai universe, so there's always potential to revisit that world. We're certainly thinking about other ideas within the Miyagi-verse, and it's only a matter of time before we figure out exactly which direction we're gonna head. [...] We're really excited about Cobra Kai Season 6. We're gonna go out with a bang, and it's gonna be an amazing experience for fans of the franchise."