Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton will reunite with Michelle Yeoh, who played Ying Nan in the film, for his upcoming Disney+ adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel American Born Chinese. Yeoh joins an international cast that includes Ben Wang (MacGyver), Yeo Yann Yann (Wet Season), Chin Han (Mortal Kombat), Daniel Wu (Reminiscence), Ke Huy Quan (Finding Ohana), professional martial artist Jim Liu, and Sydney Taylor (Just Add Magic). According to Deadline, who broke the casting news, she will play Guanyin, “an unassuming auntie who helps her nephew Wei-Chen navigate the challenges of American high school while maintaining her secret identity as the all-powerful Buddhist bodhisattva of Compassion.”
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Per Disney, American Born Chinese tells the story of Jin Wang, an average teenager juggling his high school social life with his immigrant home life. When he meets a new foreign student on the first day of the school year, even more worlds collide as Jin is unwittingly entangled in a battle of Chinese mythological gods. The show is a genre-hopping action-comedy that explores issues of identity, culture, and family.
The series is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Gene Luen Yang (Action Comics, Monkey Prince). Asher Goldstein (Short Term 12, Just Mercy) and Gene Luen Yang are also executive producers. Kelvin Yu is the series’ showrunner.
“Gene Luen Yang’s book is a staple in American literature, and deeply important to a whole generation of readers,” co-writer Kelvin Yu said back when the project was announced. “Destin and Melvin are storytellers working at the highest level imaginable. It’s all so exciting and so humbling to be a part of.”
Disney+ describes the show as “a genre-hopping action-comedy.” 20th Television produces the Disney Branded Television series. Emmy Award winner Kelvin Yu (Bob’s Burgers) and Charles Yu (Legion, Westworld) are writing and executive-producing the series. Melvin Mar and Jake Kasdan (Doogie Kamealoha, M.D., Fresh Off the Boat, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Jumanji: The Next Level) are also executive-producing.
