Jack Black is returning to the Kung Fu Panda franchise for a new Netflix series titled Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight. Netflix announced the news for National Panda Day on Wednesday. The streamer tweeted, “Get ready for PANDA-monium. No better way to celebrate National Panda Day than by announcing Jack Black’s return as Po in the new animated series, Kung Fu Panda: the Dragon Knight.” The new series finds Po on an eating tour of China when he’s wrongfully accused of misusing magical weapons. In order to clear his name, Po has to team up with a proper English knight to embark on an epic quest. Here’s the official synopsis:
“Jack Black returns to KUNG FU PANDA in the new series KUNG FU PANDA: THE DRAGON KNIGHT. When a mysterious pair of weasels set their sights on a collection of four powerful weapons, Po must leave his home to embark on a globe-trotting quest for redemption and justice that finds him partnered up with a no-nonsense English knight named Wandering Blade. Together, these two mismatched warriors set out on an epic adventure to find the magical weapons first and save the world from destruction — and they may even learn a thing or two from each other along the way.”
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Black is the only cast member announced at this time. DreamWorks Animation is producing the series, with Peter Hastings and Shaunt Nigoghossian as executive producers and Chris Amick and Ben Mekler as co-executive producers.
Jack Black voiced Po in all three Kung Fu Panda movies, released in 2008, 2011, and 2016. There have been two previous Kung Fu Panda television shows. The Nickelodeon series Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness bridged the gap between the first two movies. The Prime Video series followed the events of Kung Fu Panda 3. Both series cast Mick Wingert as Po in Black’s place.
Kung Fu Panda is a CG-animated series modeled on the wuxia genre of Chinese fantasy. Its world is populated by anthropomorphic animals and the stories focus on Po Ping, a giant panda adopted and raised by Mr. Ping, a goose. Po discovers that he is the prophesied Dragon Warrior and thus capable of achieving unlimited power. The light-hearted films focus on Po growing into his new responsibilities and wrestling with his identity and familial history.
Netflix did not announce a release window for Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight. It did release four first look images, which you can see in the above tweet.
