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Two of the biggest 2025 Chinese New Year releases were sequels. The global blockbuster Ne Zha 2 was covered in our previous review. Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force  is literally cut from the same cloth, or book to be specific. Both Ne Zha and Creation of the Gods are based upon stories from Fengshen Yanyi , a 16th-century Chinese novel by Xu Zhonglin, translated as The Investiture of the Gods.  Nezha even appears in both Creation of the Gods  films, along with few other characters like Shen Gongbao and the Immortals. Nezha appears on the Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force  poster in the upper lefthand corner, easily recognized by his magic red scarf.   Both Ne Zha 2  and Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force  enjoyed a North American theatrical release, but the latter was very short. At China’s box office, Creation of the Gods II  placed third behind Ne Zha 2  and Detective Chinatown 1900  (the 4th installment in that franchise).  Both films take tremendous liberties with the original story The Investiture of the Gods ; such is the nature of book-to-filmmaking. While Ne Zha 2  fits neatly into the Xianxia (immortal heroes) genre, Creation of the Gods II leans more towards Wuxia (warrior heroes), despite both movies emerging from the same epic. Creation of the Gods II is more wuxia because it is told more so from the human perspective. A major plot point focuses on Jiang Ziya (Huang Bo), an immortal who forsakes his magic and returns to being human. He is flanked by loyal immortal protectors and nephew disciples: Yang Jian (Ci Sha) and Nezha (Wu Ya Fan).  The Creation of the Gods films are part of a trilogy, written and directed by maverick filmmaker Wuershan. All three movies were filmed together from 2018 through 2019, an 18 month shoot that employed some 10,000 crew members. Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms was originally slated for 2020, but the world got sick, so its premiere was delayed until 2023. Originally, Creation of the Gods II was to follow in 2024, but with thousands of special effects shots to be made, post-production took an additional year.  But before we dig into the sequel, let’s look back at the first film. Trying to watch Creation of the Gods II to start would be like jumping in on Avengers: Endgame  (2019) or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2  (2011) first. If you know The Investiture of the Gods , every character is introduced with a supertitle in that classic Chinese film way. But if you don’t who’s who, it can be very confusing. For example, in Demon Force , Nezha just buzzes in and out through the battles without any further explanation. Any noob to the story would be like WTH is up with that kid? Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms  begins with an epic siege. It's massive, actualized with lot of CGI as well as a lot of huge mob scenes with hordes of extras. Its magnitude deserves to be seen on the big silver screen. The opening battlefield scenes are humongous, on the level of the finale for most films like this. And the movie marches onward to bigger and more grandiose from there.  Set during the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE), the overall design is ornate and geometric, echoing the aesthetics of the heavy bronze artifacts that have survived from that period. The costuming and armor are excessively opulent, befitting the grandeur of the timeless saga. And the story is twisty. The opening battle is led by Yin Shou (Fei Xiang), second prince of the Shang, suppressing a rebel uprising. Yin Shou’s top soldiers are his ‘adopted’ sons, actually the sons of other leaders, held as hostages to assure loyalty. Su Daji (Narana Erdyneeva), the daughter of the rebel leader, is caught by some of the hostage sons when she is trying to escape. But rather than fall into their hands, she commits suicide. But then there’s the first major twist. Her dying body is possessed by a nine-tailed fox demon.  The nine-tailed fox is classic demon of Asian mythology. Called huli jing in Chinese, it also appears in Japanese legend as a kitsune and Korean tales as a kumiho. The natural form of a nine-tailed fox is a magical beast usually with white fur, but it can assume the form of a beautiful seductive woman (or sometimes a man) to lure humans of the opposite sex to their doom. The metaphor is reminiscent of a Celtic selkie or a Greek siren (precursor to the mermaid), but nine-tailed foxes are creatures of the land. They just drain the life force – or qi – from their victims, like vampires drain blood. Nine-tailed foxes have magic powers, and often seek immortality through centuries of ascetic practices and qi poaching. Erdyneeva delivers an utterly hypnotizing performance as the fox demoness. Wuershan has a knack for directing femme fatale roles and his films have casted some of China’s most gorgeous actresses to play them. But back to the story, Jiang Ziya forsakes his immortality to deliver the Fengshen Bang, a scroll of ultimate power, to Yin Shou, who is under the nine-tailed fox’s spell. In a demonstration of magic, Jiang Ziya’s rival, Shen Gongbao (Xia Yu) exposes Yin Shou’s ruthlessness, so Jiang changes his mind, takes the Fengshen Bang and runs. Buoyed with a strong cast of heroes, complicated tangled story arcs and eye-popping special effects, Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms  is a lot of film. It's 2 1/2 hours long, and a wild non-stop ride all the way through.  Even the end credits were an eyeful. Remember those 10,000 crew members? The credits are like looking at the Great Wall of China where every brick is a name. And just when you think they're done, there's an awesome post-credit scene that teases the sequel, then even more credits – the credits weren’t even halfway through.  The mid-credit scene introduces the villains for Demon Force : Shang Grand Preceptor Wen Zhong (Wu Hsing Kuo) who has opened his third eye, General Deng Chanyu (Nashi) and the Four Heavenly Kings. Part of that mid-credit scene comprises much of the main trailer for Demon Force .  Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force  has even more magic and more huge battles, starting with an ambush and escalating to another full-blown city siege with flying magic eye discs that emit knock out rays to anyone who didn’t drink the Kool-Aid (actually it looked more like watered down soy milk). It launches from the cinematic high bar that the previous film set, and levels up from there. Again, a female antihero takes the lead. Erdyneeva reprises her role as Su Daji, but her powers are depleted. Stepping up to fill that femme fatale role is a human. Nashi dominates as General Deng, a fierce female warrior who throws down better than the men. She steals every scene she’s in. When Yin Shou, now the king and resurrected from the dead in the end credit scene of the previous film, tasks Wen Zhong to capture Jiang Ziya, he declines because he has retirement plans. Of course, once you’re as powerful as Wen Zhong, you can never escape being involved in the battles of heaven and earth, so he comes back into play later. Meanwhile, Deng steps up in his place and becomes a primary antagonist, pursuing the heroes across ancient China.  And the Heavenly Kings are magnificently actualized; Mo Li Qing (Seng Ge Ren Qin), Mo Li Hong (Na Yin Tai), Mo Li Hai (Zhang Yilong), and Mo Li Shou (Ai Li Ku) are giant Buddhist devas that wield magical weapons, a sword, a parasol, a pipa (Chinese lute) and a red cord respectively. Within Chinese Buddhist temples, there is typically front gate where effigies of these guardian devas are housed. Demon Force  captures their imposing awesomeness like never before.  The sequel is overwhelmingly spectacular, and even if the story of Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force  gets too complex to follow for the uninitiated, it still works on its sheer audacity of vision. Here, the epic fantasies of ancient China are showcased gloriously. Consider the fantasy franchise titans of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and the MCU. All of those are modern, created within the last century. The Investiture of the Gods  is a chronicle of that magnitude that has been around since the 16th century. It has been retold countless times in theater, opera, comics, books, and movies. What’s more, there are so many versions and variations of the stories. Now these classic legends are getting their deserved global spotlight in the movies.  Wuershan claims the Creation of the Gods trilogy is conclusive. It will finish with Creation of the Gods III: Creation Under Heaven , which was originally slated to be released in 2025, but following the delay of Demon Force , it may be pushed back to 2026.  He has also hinted that he might explore other tales based on The Investiture of the Gods  over the next quarter century, and in so doing, would create his own take on the Fengshen universe.  Which leads us (ever so slightly) back in time to Painted Skin: The Resurrection  (2012). If you didn’t get enough nine-tailed fox femme fatale action, check out Painted Skin: The Resurrection . Wuershan took over the director’s chair for this sequel to Painted Skin  (2008), reuniting some of the cast of the original, Zhou Xun, Zhao Wei, Chen Kun, but takes place 500 years later so only Zhou Xun reprises her role. Zhou is Xiao Wei, a nine-tailed fox demon, and another captivating female antihero subject for Wuershan. This film is firmly within the Xianxia genre, very loosely derived from Liaozhai Zhiyi  ( Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio ), compiled by Pu Songling in the early 18th century.  Wuershan demonstrates his signature panache for the big screen spectacle with outrageous color schemes, cascades of flowing silk, glittering golden armor and ghostly white hair tentacles foxtails. His captivating vision of fox demonesses is sultry and seductive, abetted by the two lead actresses. Zhou Xun and ‘Vicky’ Zhao Wei have some of the most soulful eyes in cinema and their chemistry is electric. Zhou’s fox demoness has become tragic, struggling to escape a curse laid upon her for loving a human. Zhao plays the scarred general princess Jing, who dons an ornate golden mask to hide her ugliness like the Phantom of the Opera. And adding to the mix is Yang Mi, playing Que’er, a perfectly chirpy bird demoness.  Painted Skin: The Resurrection  is sappily romantic in that Chinese sacrifice-love-for-station-and-circumstance way, and some of those scenes get a little long, but the musical interlude is a poignant traditional melancholy ballad, and all three actresses are just stunning in their roles. It's funny, sexy, tragic, campy, and stylish, and apart from a few longwinded romantic scenes, moves at a consistently engaging pace. The romantic scenes are redeemed by the literal giving of hearts, as demons have no hearts so they must eat them regularly or in the case of breaking a curse, have one given willingly to become human.  While Painted Skin: The Resurrection  is not as cinematically overwhelming as Wuershan’s Creation of the Gods movies, it has moments of sheer artistry worth the watch. Clearly, when it comes to fantasy cinema, Wuershan is a filmmaker to watch. By Gene Ching Immortal Squad, Martial Arts Editor & Action Choreographer If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter  and join our community on socials! Facebook Instagram Twitter TikTok YouTube

It’s the biggest film of 2025 so far, but many don’t even know about it. Ne Zha 2  is now the highest-grossing animated film in the world ever, dethroning the previous title holder, another sequel, Inside Out 2 (2024). It is also the highest-grossing film in a single territory (China) in the world, unseating Star Wars: The Force Awakens  (2015) for North America. Since its release for the Lunar New Year, Ne Zha 2 has grossed over $2 billion, the first animated film to do so, and with those earnings, it has become the highest grossing non-English film ever.  And at this writing, it’s currently placed 6th in the worldwide highest-grossing films ever, just below Star Wars: The Force Awakens  and above Avengers: Infinity War  (2018).  After emerging as a significant world cinema,  Ne Zha 2  is the global success that China’s film industry has yearned for, and it’s matter of patriotic duty for Chinese nationals to see it. You must see just to keep up with the global film conversation.  Ne Zha 2 (pronounced Nuh-Jah) is the direct sequel of Ne Zha  (2019), and both are written and directed by Jiaozi; these are his first two feature length films. Ne Zha  was also a success, but it didn’t go global. When it came out, it rose to become the highest-grossing animated film in China, the highest-grossing non-U.S. animated film, and the highest-grossing non-English film of all time. It was also the first Chinese animated feature to be presented in IMAX. Ne Zha 2  is the third film in the animated Fengshen Universe from Enlight Pictures. The second was Jiang Ziya  (2020) although that story takes a slightly different path, particularly how the Twelve Golden Immortals are depicted. Fengshen refers to Fengshen Yanyi , a 16th-century Chinese novel by Xu Zhonglin, translated as The Investiture of the Gods. It’s an epic tale that lies at the root of Chinese fantasy, the genre of Xianxia (Immortal heroes) . The story of Ne Zha, or Nezha as it usually spelled, is one of the many stories from this epic of classic Chinese literature.  Nezha is mischievous demon out of Chinese myth like the Monkey King. In fact, he battles the Monkey King early on in  Journey to the West .  Nezha has several manifestations ranging from a three-headed six-armed demon to his more common appearance as a cheeky boy. He wields a magic spear, a magic scarf that is semi-sentient as Doctor Strange’s cloak, and celestial roller skates of fire known as the Wind Fire Wheels.  In Bagua, an internal form of Kung Fu like Tai Chi, the Wind Fire Wheels are weapons that pay homage to Nezha’s flaming skates. These are wide flat metal rings with flame-shaped blades jutting from the edges. The wheels are always practiced in pairs.  I had the honor of testing a modern-made pair of Wind Fire Wheels for the El Rey TV show Man at Arms: Art of War . The show brought together expert craftsmen to reproduce weapons and armor from scratch for history and fantasy, then to test them in real-world applications. If you look quickly, you can see me in the trailer with the Wind Fire Wheels on the show’s trailer. I’m at the 5 second mark.  But I digress. Back to Ne Zha 2 , wow. What a spectacle. The film is next level, relentless in its over-the-top imagery, like the wildest video game ever. It’s eye-poppingly visual, with startlingly fresh visions universes getting ripped open, invading demon hordes, armies of immortal mystics, cosmic battles, and some incredibly detailed and lush settings. The story moves from puerile pee humor to heart-wrenching mother and son feels, with great fights and massive battles all along the way. Ne Zha 2  is a lot of movie. And it might not make a lick of sense if you don’t know who Nezha is, but it’s so visual that you just need to know he’s a demon brat with a good heart. And he’s one of the most powerful beings in the cosmos.  Ne Zha 2  is such a huge level up from the first film, so much so that you should see this first, then go back for Ne Zha  and treat it like a prequel, lest the first film dissuade you from seeing the sequel.  However, the original film,  Ne Zha,  is his origin story, a deep dive into Chinese myth. At first, the film might feel like it poached the backgrounds from  Kung Fu Panda , but it takes off when the magic battles begin. It’s hampered by the trappings of PRC animation, including pee and fart jokes (including a fart trap escape), lots of cartoonish comic relief like dopey Monty Pythonesque guards, a burly effeminate villager, a drunk fool, a flying pig that sneezes visions, a sea demon that blows petrifying bubbles and antidote snot.   But it’s all about the fight scenes.  There are sword fights, magic chi blasts, weird spiky weapons, magic spears, a magic flywhisk, that magic brush and shuttlecock action. It’s total superhero choreography that’s very satisfying and somewhat fresh in its vision. However, the magnitude of Ne Zha  hardly approaches Ne Zha 2 . Where most sequels fail, a few sequels double down to birth a franchise like The Empire Strikes Back  (1980) and Aliens  (1986). Ne Zha 2  improves exponentially. If you want to do a deep dive into Nezha animation, watch Nezha Conquers the Dragon King  (1979). It's astonishingly good, a stylish postcard from the era of hand-drawn cartoons long before CGI came into play. The film is full of vibrant color schemes, surreal animation, magic swordfights (between shellfish no less), and unique backgrounds based on classic Chinese landscape painting. The story is the same as what is told in Ne Zha and Ne Zha 2 , but a completely different interpretation of many of the characters, especially Nezha.  Where Ne Zha 2025 is a brat punk, Nezha 1979 is a beautiful prepubescent boy that's all powerful, mischievous and dances about a lot. He is also bare assed for most of the film. After he emerges from an egg that his mom carried for 3 years, he rises on a lotus blossom and throws a lotus petal up in the air and it transforms into one of those red bandanas Chinese babies wear over the front of their bodies. But there's no back but strings. Through most of the film, Nezha remains unabashedly bare assed.  The music vacillates between sort of a classical orchestral sound akin to the soundtracks of old Disney animated films of the period and classic Chinese opera for the battle scenes, plus a few more. There's this distinctive battle music in traditional Chinese opera - tinny clanging cymbals and big drums with a stringed pipa. What’s more, there are also long gratuitous scenes of Nezha dancing to classical opera, also practicing his magic weapons or riding his deer mount. There's an oddly long gratuitous shot of Nezha's dad Li Jing playing guzheng - that's a beautiful segment musically but the animation doesn’t justify its inclusion.  Overall, Nezha Conquers the Dragon King  has a lovely vintage style. It was the first feature length animated film for China, and premiered as part of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the PRC celebrations. It was screened out of competition at Cannes in 1980 and was a Google Doodle in 2014 (35th anniversary). With the triumph of Ne Zha 2 , Enlight Pictures is sure to expand its animated Fengshen Universe for more installments. And there are plenty more tales from The Investiture of the Gods that could make fine movies. Since Lunar New Year 2025, Jiaozi has conquered the world with soft power to become China’s highest-grossing director of all time, and we can hardly wait to see what he might do next.  By Gene Ching Immortal Squad, Martial Arts Editor & Action Choreographer If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter  and join our community on socials! Facebook Instagram Twitter TikTok YouTube

Three Lady White Snakes: L-R: Joey Wang from Green Snake, Eva Huang from The Sorcerer and the White Snake, Zhang Zhe (Mandarin voice actor) White Snake. This year, 2025, marks the Year of the Snake. Accordingly, the most popular tale (tail?) for this cycle is one of Lady Bai, Bai Suzhen a.k.a. Madame White Snake. The Legend of White Snake (Bai She Zhuan) is considered one of the Four Great Folktales of China. Some trace the story to the 9th century, but it solidifies in the 16th century, and over time, it grew into many variations. Lady Bai is a snake spirit seeking immortality who disguises herself as a human but then falls in love with a mortal. Beyond the star-crossed lovers, Lady Bai has a sister, Xiaoqing (‘Little Green’), who is also a snake spirit. There’s also often a Buddhist priest pursuing Lady Bai, like Van Helsing chased Dracula. The monk is Fahui from Jin Shan temple and seeks to exorcise Lady Bai as a demon. Beyond the romance, Lady Bai and Xiaoqing aspire to ascend to human incarnations and consequently achieve enlightenment and immortality.  The Legend of White Snake is a magical fantasy, part of the Chinese Xianxia genre, which is parallel to Wuxia. Wu means ‘martial.’ Xian means ‘immortal’ as in Immortal Studios. Xia, the same suffix for both terms, means ‘knight errant’ or ‘hero.’ It connotates chivalry and honor. Wuxia is about martial arts-oriented stories, although there are sometimes elements of magic and sorcery. Xianxia is about demigods and demons and there’s always martial arts although swords tend to be wielded more like magic wands. When applied to Hollywood, Xianxia is akin to Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings whereas Wuxia is like John Wick. Something like The Matrix could fall right in between. These genres often overlap. This notion of magical beasts spending thousands of years cultivating their spirits to become human or immortal runs through a lot of Chinese mythology. With the influence of Buddhist reincarnation and Daoist spiritual cultivation, the journey of incarnations levelling up is interwoven in many myths. It’s a compelling metaphor for how we all strive to reach mastery within our disciplines and the inconvenient obstacles that impede our progress, obstacles like distracting lovers and interfering adversaries.  The Legend of White Snake can also be seen as a critique of Buddhist asceticism; Lady Bai is not necessarily evil. In fact, she aspires to enter the mundane human world, often sacrificing centuries of cultivated qi to help her human husband. Nevertheless, Fahui is psychotically bent on capturing and imprisoning her beneath some holy pagoda, akin to the Ghostbusters trapped ghosts in their industrial containment units. In Fahui’s view, humans and snakes (or any other type of demon) cannot intermingle. The Legend of White Snake has been retold in Chinese opera, television serials, manhua (Chinese manga, a transliteration of characters), and of course, movies. One of the guiltiest Kung Fu movie pleasures is Green Snake (1993).  Green Snake (1993) Green Snake was directed by Tsui Hark, a master of Wuxia and Xianxia cinema. The ever-mysterious Joey Wong plays Lady Bai (Bai means white, just in case you didn’t know). Her sister Green Snake is played by the always demure Maggie Cheung. And the exorcist monk is martial arts star and real-life wushu champion Vincent Zhao. It’s wonderfully campy with pre-CGI effects but nevertheless, achieves some eye-popping visuals. And all three actors totally sell the fantasy, replete with romance, humor, tragedy, and serpentine sensuality.  Vincent Zhou is brilliant as the obsessive Buddhist exorcist Fahui. And in the 90s, Joey Wang and Maggie Cheung are at the top of their divadom. From their slinky titillation, the film moves into some big questions of sibling rivalry, good vs evil, delusion vs reality, emotion vs detachment, and what it means to be human.   Underlying the fable are some hard challenges for Buddhism, all wrapped in the slithery coils of Joey and Maggie as they sashay in their silken dresses, training for a glimpse of enlightenment. The opening imagery of deformed humans wallowing in carnal crudeness, then with a ring of a Buddhist bell, Fahui escapes into meditation symbolized by a drop of water sending out ripples. It’s a deeply resonant scene for any Buddhist.  Maggie delivers a commanding performance that evolves from campy to vampy, to her perfect portrayal of trying to cry when you don't have emotions, to when she finally achieves tears. She's still mesmerizing. The special effects hold up fairly well, even the snake puppets and prosthetics, all things considered. It's amazing how Tsui Hark achieved his visions without CGI. Best of all, there’s a swordfight between Joey and Maggie.  The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2011) In 2011, Jet Li took over the role of the exorcising monk Fahui in It's Love a.k.a. The Sorcerer and the White Snake. It’s ironic because Zhao took over the role of Wong Fei Hung in the Once Upon a Time in China series after Jet left due to a break with the director, who was none other than Tsui Hark. The Sorcerer and the White Snake is CGI designed for 3D. 3D films can be cheesy, and in this, the snake sisters have conspicuous boobs. That’s so cheesy because snakes don’t have boobs. That would make them mammals, not reptiles. Nevertheless, 3D CGI snake sisters with prominent boobs is strangely entertaining. The fights are all magical - lots of flying about and projecting qi blasts. There are sword fights, but they are magical qi-projection swords. They are more like Harry Potter wands than swords. Nothing wrong with that. Totally counts for sword fights. Unfortunately, the film feels dated now. It was a nascent merging of wire work and CGI, which comes off crude by today’s standards. Beyond that, the film is uneven, vacillating between a love story and an effects-laden actioner.  Light Chaser's White Snake Trilogy More recently, a trilogy of wonderful, animated feature film versions slithered out of Light Chaser Animation Studios, White Snake (2019), Green Snake a.k.a. White Snake 2 (2021) and White Snake 3: Afloat (2024). If you haven’t tuned into Light Chaser, White Snake is a good starting point. The studio has created a ‘New Gods’ universe that retells classic Chinese myths with a modern flair. White Snake introduces the ancient Xianxia world. Green Snake takes a sharp turn into a steampunk Xianxia world that Light Chaser created for its groundbreaking film Nezha Reborn (2021). It almost stands outside of the trilogy because White Snake 3: Afloat picks up right where the original film left off. It tells a more conventional version of the legend, parallel to the 1993 and 2011 films with Fahui in hot pursuit of Lady Bai. It transforms the original to a sort of prequel to the well-known legend.  There are dozens of other interpretations of the Legend of White Snake in cinema. There’s a lost two-part Shaw Brothers film that dates all the way back to 1926, and dozens of other movies made for the small screen throughout Asia. However, the ones listed here stand out, so much so they received international distribution when they debuted. With the Year of the Snake, the Legend of White Snake teaches us about shedding skins, self-cultivation, heroic ambiguity, the challenges of remaining honorable, the quest for immortality, and most of all, forbidden love. And this year, understanding forbidden love and the sacrifices needed to nurture that intimacy seem more relevant than ever.  By Gene Ching Immortal Squad, Martial Arts Editor & Action Choreographer If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter  and join our community on socials! Facebook Instagram Twitter TikTok YouTube

We invite you to learn more about the Immortal team. The team Meet the Immortal Leadership team and our Advisors and Partners . LEADERSHIP TEAM Payhuan Peter Shiao Founder, Creator, CEO Payhuan is our Founder and Chief Executive Officer, leading Immortal Studios in creating a new story universe to awaken the hero within everyone and defining a new business model centered around direct user engagement. Payhuan has a decades long career leading innovative entertainment and media ventures between the East and West, and has been active in empowering underserved communities. Payhuan’s favorite past time as a boy was reading Chinese Wuxia novels (many of them written by his father Shiao Yi who is an accomplished author in the genre), and drawing these martial heroes he read about. Because of these stories, he aspired to be a modern day Xia, the transcendent martial Knight who mastered themselves, and stood for righteousness and justice in a world of great stakes, poetry, romance and consequence. Payhuan pivoted from politics to a new career in media as a means of expressing his mission for social transformation through stories. He feels incredibly blessed to come full circle back to his original love with Immortal. In his own words. Hank Kanalz Head of Publishing Hank Kanalz has over 35 years of experience in the comics and entertainment industry. He’s worked at WarnerMedia and DC for 25 years, most recently as Senior Vice President of Publishing Strategy & Support Services for DC. Hank developed comprehensive content plans for both print and digital publishing across DC’s imprints, and oversaw DC’s talent services, marketing, sales, publicity, and creative services departments. Hank was first approached to join Immortal’s Advisory Board. After immersing himself in the team’s vision and goals, he signed on to lead their publishing efforts, aligning with the mission to unlock the hero inside everyone. Bob Harras Editor-at-Large Bob Harras is the only individual who has been editor-in-chief of both DC and Marvel Comics. At Marvel, Bob spearheaded best-selling titles such as X-Men, Avengers, Spider-Man, Hulk , and Deadpool , and his writing credits include the Avengers, Namor , and the limited series Nick Fury vs S.H.I.E.L.D. For over a decade at DC he oversaw editorial for all comics including Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman . He also headed MAD Magazine , Black Label, and Vertigo publications, as well as spearheading DC's first YA and Middle Grade line of publications. Bob currently resides in New Jersey. Tomas Jegeus Immortal Motion Picture Group Tomas is a film and entertainment executive with experience in marketing, distributing, and producing content worldwide. A native Swede, he has lived and worked in Stockholm, London, and Hong Kong, and is currently based in Los Angeles. As Co-President of Global Marketing and Distribution at 20th Century Fox, he was in charge of the release of Avatar, Titanic, X-Men, Ice Age, Life of Pi , and more; most recently, he served as President of Fox International Productions. He was immediately drawn to Payhuan's vision for Immortal, and believes it will change the world. Tomas' hobby is composing, recording, and producing ambient electronic music, and he has released three albums on Spotify. Skip Kelly Company Storyteller Skip's whole life was transformed through watching Naruto once a week for the entirety of his childhood. It has always been a dream of his to create the next generation's stories that could inspire humanity, so contributing to Immortal Studios is a dream come true. Skip is a master storyteller, media and marketing strategist, and a super-fan of Fa Sheng. Gene Ching Martial Arts Editor & Action Choreographer Gene Ching is a 32nd generation layman disciple of the Shaolin Temple, a certified Provost at Arms in fencing through ROTC and SJSU Human Performance, and is part of the Programs Committee for the Chinese Historical Society of America. He is also the publisher of Kung Fu Tai Chi , the largest newsstand magazine dedicated exclusively to Chinese martial arts, as well as a staff writer for YMAA Publication Center, and a regular contributor to Den of Geek and UNESCO IM. He joined Immortal Studios after meeting Payhuan at the Shaolin Summit, and sees Immortal Studios as the perfect vehicle to help him bring Shaolin to the west. In his spare time, Gene does volunteer work in drug harm prevention, both in crises situations and as a speaker at schools. Kelly Sue Milano VP of Content & Executive Editor Kelly Sue Milano is the co-founder of HexComix, the all-female creative team behind HEX11, the critically acclaimed indie sci-fi/fantasy comic in development for television. Beyond comics, she has crafted spiritually driven narratives as a staff writer for the Kabbalah Centre and mentors emerging writers as a Comic Writing & Scripting Mentor at OTIS College of Art + Design. As VP of Content, Kelly Sue will work closely with writers, artists, and production teams to develop Immortal’s interconnected comics, films, television, and gaming projects. A core focus will be expanding Immortal’s adaptations of the Shiao Yi library, a collection of over 60 legendary wuxia novels that have inspired more than 30 film and TV adaptations worldwide. David Collins VP, Cinematic Storyverse Prior to joining Immortal Studios, David co-created the espionage drama series THE STASI FILES, optioned by Dynamic Television (GINNY & GEORGIA), as well as the sci-fi noir graphic novel CLEAN SLATE, purchased by Lionsgate-Regency. Previously David was head of development for filmmaker Duane Adler (STEP UP) at Connect Entertainment, where he worked on dance films including MAKE YOUR MOVE starring Derek Hough and K-pop superstar BoA. Prior to his time at Connect, David worked as director of development for Platinum Studios (COWBOYS & ALIENS) where he helped acquire, develop and produce a slate of feature films & television series based upon comic book IP, including projects at DreamWorks, Universal, Disney, Paramount, Sony Pictures Animation, Fox TV Studios, and the Sy Fy Channel. Splitting his time between Los Angeles and Singapore, he is currently studying Mandarin and learning to cook with a wok. David Collins Company Storyteller Skip's whole life was transformed through watching Naruto once a week for the entirety of his childhood. It has always been a dream of his to create the next generation's stories that could inspire humanity, so contributing to Immortal Studios is a dream come true. Skip is a master storyteller, media and marketing strategist, and a super-fan of Fa Sheng. Bella Ortiz Creative Producer and Social Media Strategist Bella expands the company’s digital presence and fosters community engagement through social initiatives and content-driven outreach. Driven by a passion for amplifying diverse voices, they create opportunities for underrepresented creators to share their stories, ensuring new generations feel seen and empowered.A graduate of Otis College of Art and Design in product design, Bella specialized in board game creation and the intersection of storytelling and play, as well as developing products for neurodivergent students. Their journey into comics began in a class on comic book heroes taught by Kelly Sue Milano—now Immortal Studios’ VP of Content and Executive Editor. Inspired by the power of storytelling, Bella interned with the HEX 11 team, which eventually led them into the Immortal Studios universe. Advisors Joshua Malone Director of Operations Josh's gaming experience began at the age of 3 when he first held a controller, sparking a deep passion for virtual world spelunking. His love for games and search for meaning would eventually take on a deeper dimension as a lead editor at Atlus/SEGA. There, he blended his love for myths and mysticism in Shin Megami Tensei and Persona , while exploring heroism and redemption in Yakuza/Like a Dragon and Judgment . His path to infuse true spirit into storytelling then led him to Immortal Studios, where he now serves as Director of Operations, helping to build a transformative, transmedia powerhouse dedicated to Awakening the Hero in us all. Joshua Malone Director of Operations ADVISORY BOARD Immortal is proud to have an amazing group of advisors and appreciative of their expertise and support. Sam Ades - Award-winning digital strategist and brand building executive with experience at Warner Bros. and DC Comics. Adam Breivis - Digital Producer for Disney and NBC. Transmedia marketer. ARG and mobile game content developer. Arthur Chan - Award winning brand builder and marketer - co-founder of FC&A, clients include all major Hollywood studios and indies. Benjamin Chang - Serial entrepreneur, technologist, CEO of Skale Education. Bernard Chang - Leading Marvel & DC artist and former Disney Imagineer. Sandy Climan – President of Entertainment Media Ventures, founding Head of CAA’s corporate representation practice. Lindsay Conner - Attorney and chair of the entertainment practice at Manatt, Phelps and Philipps. Mike Corrigan - Corporate strategist, former head of entertainment and media at Pricewaterhouse and CFO of MGM Pictures. Dan Dingh – Co-Founder and CEO of TSM. Andre Fonseca - Digital marketer/co-founder of FC&A. As former VP, Digital for Disney oversaw major Disney titles including Marvel and Pixar. Rafe Fogel - Media and content investor. Investor/board members in Legendary Pictures. Village Roadshow. and Studio Canal. Jack Gao - CEO of Smart Cinema, past International CEO of Wanda, Head of News Corp and Microsoft in China. Jeff Gomez – CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment. Gordon Ho - Former Chief Marketing Officer of Princes Cruises and Executive Vice President at Walt Disney Studios. - Matt Leaf – Former Co-Head of Motion Pictures Business Affairs at CAA. Lilly Lee - Master calligrapher, lettering designer, uber connector. Patrick Lee - Founder and former CEO of Rotten Tomatoes. Stu Levy - Founder of TokyoPop, vanguard content company that established the market for Japanese manga in North America. Justin KJ Lin - General manager of Tencent's Fanbyte, Chief Strategy Officer of Firefly Web Games. Benny Luo - Founder/CEO of Next Shark, largest Asian and Asian American news & information portal in market today. Rachel McAllister - Head of MPRM Communications, whose clients have included Disney, Netflix, and Skybound. Andrew Ooi - Global Asian talent manager and producer. CEO of Echelon management. Jack Pan - Leading theatrical and direct to consumer marketing executive at Disney, Summit, STX, and Global Road. Rick Porras - Co-Producer for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy; New media storytelling consultant for Video for Sony. Steven Ray - Music, film, connected technologies executive and executive producer. Charlie Stickney - Independent comics maven, co-publisher of Scout Comics, creator of White Ash. Mike Tankel - Leading marketing and engagement strategist, who works with brands to deliver memorable and sticky brand solutions. Rizwan Virk – Head of MIT Game Lab and Author of the Simulation Hypothesis. Michael Vorhaus - Digital, gaming, and new media expert with 25 years experience building a consulting and research practice at Magid before starting Vorhaus Advisors. Thomas Vu – Head of Franchise Development at Riot Games. Andrew Walters - CSO for RSVD, Former Executive Vice President of Corporate Development at MGM. Bill Wong – Principal, Bill Wong LLC. Former Chief of Staff to California State Legislature and California State Assembly. Brian Wong – Chairman of Radii and former Group VP of Alibaba. Partners PARTNERS Immortal Studios is proud to have strategic partnerships with industry leaders that support our Storyverse and our Mission !

Immortal is an entertainment company dedicated to creating modern martial arts fantasy stories in the Wuxia genre, and leading community activities to awaken the hero within each of us. HOME OF ESSENTIAL WUXIA Immortal Studio is dedicated to creating stories in the martial arts fantasy genre known as Wuxia & bringing it to the global pop culture stage. OUR COMICS & MERCH Digital Quick View Assassin G #1 - Digital Price $6.00 Digital Quick View Fa Sheng: Origins #1 - Digital Price $3.00 Digital Quick View The Adept #2 -Digital Price $6.00 Digital Quick View Chronicles of the Immortal Swordsmen #1 - Digital Price $5.00 Digital Quick View The Adept #1 - Digital Price $5.00 New Arrival! Quick View Assassin G #1 - Print - Gene Ha Cover Price $25.00 New Arrival! Quick View Assassin G #1 - Print Price $17.00 New Arrival! Quick View Assassin G #1 - Print - Jim Cheung Cover Price $25.00 New Arrival! Quick View Assassin G #1 - Print - Gian Galang Cover Price $25.00 New Arrival! Quick View Assassin G #1 - Print - Joyce Chin Cover Price $25.00 INSIDE We are bringing this beloved classic genre into the 21st century & introducing it to mainstream audiences by creating an interconnected storyverse of heroes, fantasy action, kung fu & empowerment. Artwork - Immortal Storyverse Artwork - Immortal Storyverse Artwork - Immortal Storyverse Artwork - Immortal Storyverse 1/7 NEWS Feb 24 Wuxia Review: 100 Yards 57 Feb 21 A Heartfelt Message from Payhuan Shiao and Kelly Sue Milano 14 Feb 13 HEX11 Co-creator Kelly Sue Milano Joins Immortal Studios as VP of Content & Executive Editor to Lead Expansion of Wuxia Storyverse 61 Feb 12 Immortal Arrives at New York City on 2/27! 10 Jul 24, 2024 Immortal Studios Launches Groundbreaking AI Story Engine in Collaboration with SingularityNET 118 Apr 26, 2023 Enter the Jianghu: A Glimpse into John Wick's World 541 Mar 15, 2023 Wuxia Puppetry Shows 358 Mar 1, 2023 Inner Peace in Wuxia 285 1 2 3 4 5 INVEST in Why Investors Invested in Immortal Studios INSIDE IMMORTAL STUDIOS Immortal Studios is inviting you! | Pre-Campaign page is now live on Kickstarter The Adept Co-Creator Q&A: Tasha Huo Drawing The Adept Yishan Li Draws Sasha True Chronicles of the Immortal Swordsmen Kickstarter Campaign Video Chronicles of the Immortal Swordsmen Animated Cover Drawing Immortal Swordsmen Bernard Chang Draws Variant Cover More videos OUR COMMUNITY Our Fans - Read their Reviews Our Squad - Premier Martial Artists Who Support Immortal's Mission Our Events - Fan Engagement Amplifying AAPI Representation in Entertainment & Media Summit - May 26, 2021 Live Reading of The Adept Immortal and Shaolin Masters discuss the Shaolin Temple's Mysticism & Legends

Into the Badlands (C) January + February 2016 KungFuMagazine.com. Republished by permission. What is Wuxia? Our Favorite Wuxia Movies Anatomy of a Wuxia Novel " Into the Badlands is on Netflix and was an AMC TV series that was deeply rooted in Wuxia storytelling. It was a post-apocalyptic fantasy that mashed up many genres which ran from 2015 to 2019, and opened the door to several other Wuxia-derivative TV shows like YouTube's Cobra Kai , Netflix's Wu Assassins , Cinemax's Warrior , and the upcoming CW reboot of Kung Fu . I participated in two set visits to Into the Badlands for Season 2 and 3 when they were filming near Dublin, Ireland and reported on it extensively. " G - Gene Ching, Immortal Studios' Associate Editor & Action Choreographer If you don’t know the name Daniel Wu by now, he’s the martial artist to watch. Starring in AMC’s new series, Into the Badlands , Wu is an American-born Wushu champion and a founder of collegiate Wushu in the United States. He is also an award-winning Hong Kong leading man with over sixty films to his credit. With Into the Badlands , Wu ventures into something completely original, an unprecedented martial arts-laden television series from the same network that brought critically-acclaimed shows like Mad Men , Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead . “I’m so proud to be amongst those shows on the AMC roster,” says Wu. “They have a lot riding on this show. They’ve decided to go with something totally different, which is not like a formulaic list of things that they’ve gone through. Mad Men and Breaking Bad are two totally different shows and Into the Badlands is a totally ‘other’ different kind of show. They are willing to try and explore something completely different and try something fresh for television. I think that’s amazing. A lot of studios don’t have the balls to do that.” And Now for Something Completely Different “The show is martial arts drama but also has elements of Westerns, as well as steampunk, as well as all these other things mashed together,” explains Wu. Early press releases describe Into the Badlands as being loosely based on the Chinese classic Journey to the West. “I think it’s very, very, very, very loosely based on Journey to the West ,” admits Wu. “We’re not really trying to emulate the story exactly, because the story of Journey to the West on the surface is basically how the Buddhist scriptures got from India to China, how Buddhism arrived in China. But all these sort of little challenges that the Monkey King sees along the way are actually the story of his enlightenment and his development as a character, because in the beginning he is a very rebellious, crazy, out-of-control monkey. And then through his journey with the monk as they go to the west and come back, he becomes an enlightened figure and he changes completely along the way. So we took that idea of a journey of enlightenment, a journey of transformation, for the main character of Badlands, Sunny. There are some tributes, like Sunny’s name is actually Sun Wukong ( 孫悟空 ) the Monkey King’s name. And then M.K. kind of stands for ‘monk’ but it’s not meant to be a literal translation of that story in any way.” The production reunites Wu with his longtime associate, Hong Kong film maverick Stephen Fung. The two co-starred in Wu’s debut film Bishonen (1998) and continued to work together on many projects, such as Fung’s second directorial effort, the hilarious Kung Fu comedy, House of Fury (2005). “As soon as Stacey Sher [Executive Producer for Badlands] approached me to bring me on board, I brought him on board with me. We are already partners in our production company, Diversion Pictures, and we had produced Tai Chi Zero (2012), Control (2013), a couple of other films already. We’ve also worked with each other on Stephen’s directorial films for the past several years, so we’re very close in terms of creative thinking. Stephen became not only an Executive Producer, but he became the Fight Unit Director, and responsible for the whole look of all the martial arts of the show. Working with him, it was great because it was someone I could trust with all the technical side of making the martial arts of it. And having him direct all the action, we definitely got a certain level of quality out of all of it. That was an important thing – we wanted to bring that Hong Kong style to television and the only way to do that is to work with Hong Kong people. So we brought the Hong Kong action team, Master Dee Dee Ku’s action team as well, and then Stephen. Combined together, it was the three of us were responsible for the authenticity of the martial arts.” Dee Dee Ku, also known as Ku Huen Chu (谷軒昭), is a veteran fight choreographer who has worked on both sides of the Pacific to bring Kung Fu action to such notable films as Once Upon a Time in China (1991), Fist of Legend (1994), Kill Bill 1 & 2 (2003, 2004), Kung Fu Hustle (2004), Expendables 2 (2012) and dozens more. “Dee Dee, I’ve worked with him for a long time. On a couple of Yuen Woo Ping’s projects, he was Yuen Woo Ping’s right hand man. Going all the way back to The Banquet (2006), or the Curse of the Black Scorpion as they called it in the United States, I worked with him on that. I think the most recent was That Demon Within (2014). When we were thinking of choreographers that we could work with on Badlands, Dee Dee was the first one because of his experience with American projects, with the Matrix series, Crouching Tiger and all that stuff. So his English speaking communication was adequate enough to get along with American crews and he’s also experienced with working with American crews and working with unions and that kind of stuff that a lot of Hong Kong people don’t have to deal with. He ended up being one of the greatest parts of the show, I think, because his ability, his working crew, the people he brought on, they’re amazing.” Wu credits Ku as being able to transform the rest of the cast into martial artists. “We had a six-week fight camp and brought them in for intensive training.” Ku managed to get Aramis Knight (who plays M.K.) to do aerial cartwheels in that short period. “Emily Beecham (who plays Widow) had a lot of progress as well in her fight scenes. She has one fight scene that was pretty incredible. It’s mostly her on her own. This is all due to Dee Dee’s really great ability in picking what people are really good at and making that shine. He didn’t try to get her to do stuff that she wasn’t good at, or that she could do very well. He picked out stuff during the training sessions that he saw potential in and worked on moves that she could use.” Unlike the overdone Superhero genre, Into the Badlands made an effort to avoid relying too heavily on computer-generated image special effects. “There’s a little bit, you’ll see as the story develops, there’s a martial arts power that the kid develops. There’s a little bit of CGI there, but not much at all. Most of it is done with in-camera tricks and anything CGI is simple stuff like wiping away wires, things like that. We wanted to keep it as analog as possible so people could enjoy the action for the action’s sake.” The intention was to showcase the martial arts. “In several of our fight scenes, we have long shots, like a 20- or 30-second shot with 10 to 20 moves. We do try to keep it like Hong Kong action. If the performer is able to perform a long shot, we use them as long as we possibly can. If we can get them to do 20 or 30 moves in a row without cutting away, we let that happen. That’s always an amazing thing to see – a straight fight without any cuts in it.” For Wu, he had to dust off his old Wushu skills to make Sunny as authentic as possible, but he is quick to say he didn’t do all of his own stunts. “All the dangerous stuff the studio doesn’t allow me to do, stuff that looks like I might get hurt on, stuff like that. Most of the stuff I’m doing myself.” But the martial stuff was mostly him, especially the sword fighting. “At first, I hadn’t done sword-fighting in a long time so it was like, ‘Aw, this is going to be tough…on me’ – especially double sword because my left hand has always been my weaker point when I did double weapons in the past. So in the six-week fight camp I just focused on working on double weapon fighting the whole time. I actually got pretty good at it and got my old skills back. I ended up actually having more fun with that than with the fist and kick stuff.” What’s more, Wu was able to design his own swords. He got to work with Weta Workshops in New Zealand, the preeminent weapon designers for film today that came to prominence with the Lord of the Rings films. “There was a lot of thought about sword design. I really got excited about that because we wanted to make a sword that you could not necessarily pick out culturally. So it’s not really a traditional katana. It looks like double katanas. They’re single edged like the katana but they’re straight like the jian. But they actually work like a dao. But they look like katanas. They’re lighter like katanas. We actually gone through several renditions. This had been a dream of mine having done martial arts my whole life, being able to design your own sword based on experiences you had in the past, right?” Keeping that high production value of the fights is more difficult than it sounds. Television works much faster than film. “One thing we realized, why no one has done this before, it’s extremely difficult in terms of just scheduling. Trying to get all the fights and drama shot in the time we have allotted. It’s an average of 8 to 10 days per episode so we had very little time to do two major fight scenes per block of time. The way we did it is we had a fight unit and a main unit. The main unit is shooting all the drama. The fight unit is only shooting action stuff. And we’re shooting at the same time, so Monday through Friday is the drama unit and then Tuesday through Saturday is the action unit. In a lot of cases, I’d go to the drama unit for a couple hours and then rush over to the fight unit and fight all day long. A lot of times, what they had to do because I can’t be there for the fight, because I’m shooting drama, if they’re shooting say me and Emily fighting, they’ll put in my double while the shooting occurs for her side of the fight. She’s fighting my double not because I can’t fight it. It’s because I can’t be there physically. So she’s fighting with somebody else, and if I can get there in time, I’ll slip in and replace that person. But that’s strictly a time thing. It’s not about skills. It’s about being efficient and shooting as much as possible. “You need time. For example, we have a rain fight scene which you’ve probably seen in the trailer. It’s equivalent of The Grandmaster (2013) rain fight scene. We were going for that level. That Grandmaster rain fight scene took a month to film. We did it in six days. And so we’re doing incredible things that we’re jamming through very short amount of time. First of all, they can only be done with a Hong Kong crew. They can work that fast. And then secondly, the way we’re doing it splitting up the drama unit and the fight unit, splitting up the people like that. Otherwise it would be almost impossible to get it done.” From Wushu Pioneer to Asian American Pioneer With Into the Badlands , Wu is the first Asian male in the lead role of a non-comedic American TV show. Fresh Off the Boat is an ensemble cast and a comedy. John Cho’s failed Selfie and Ken Jeong’s failing Dr. Ken are also both comedies. Even Pat Morita’s short-lived 1976 show Mr. T and Tina (a derivation of the Karate Kid films) and even Sammo Hung’s two-season millennial show Martial Law (a derivation of Rush Hour films) were also comedies. Into the Badlands is all about action and drama, and Wu’s character Sunny even has a non-Asian romantic interest in Dr. Veil (Madeleine Mantock). However, Wu initially balked at taking the lead. “I was brought on board by Stacey Sher to bring authenticity to the martial arts side of the show. And the whole time I was thinking that we should be casting somebody in their late 20s early 30s, so I never really put myself into the equation. And then once the casting process started, which was like a year-and-a-half later after working on the project, we put our feelers out. I think they tested over a 100-something people, and we looked at all the tapes that they liked a lot. And everyone turned to me in the end and said, ‘Okay…can you do it?’ “And my major concern was that the proportion of fights per show is about two per episode – two major fights per episode. And I was thinking, first of all, I haven’t done martial arts action in a long time. I took a few years of time off from doing it. And secondly, I was already 40 at that point. Can I be able to do that for the next 5 or 6 years if the show does well? I’m not sure if I can do that, so let’s cast someone younger, someone who can last that 5 or 6 years. So we sent our feelers out there and they turned back to me because of multiple requirements. The studio definitely wanted the lead to be Asian. They wanted the person to be able to speak perfect English. And they had to know how to act already, to not be a new person, to have martial arts experience, and also have some name. So the number of people you can go to for that is very slim already. In the end, for them the acting was the most important. To me, the martial arts side was really more important, but to them, the acting was much more important. And so we had gone through a lot of martial artists that had no acting experience and they realized that person could not carry a show. And so eventually then, they turned back to me and said, ‘Well, can you do it?’ I’m like, ‘Okay, let me give it a shot.’ So when we were auditioning the kid, I read with the kid and the studio saw that and they said, ‘Daniel, just do it.’” Wu has already amassed a very eclectic filmography, even for an Asian star. He’s done drama, thrillers, rom-coms, quirky roles, and a wide range of diverse characters. “If you live in Asia, you understand that that’s the way things are. To be a successful actor here, you have to be able to do everything. But in the States, it’s not like that. Basically, if you do one thing, you do that your whole career. And so I’m out to show that I can do more than just one genre.” The only typical Asian star thing Wu doesn’t do is sing and dance. “That’s one thing I’ve avoided my whole career, except for when I made that film The Heavenly Kings. That was poking fun at that whole pop idol thing that happens here in Asia where almost every actor does sing and dance.” Wu directed that film and won the 2006 Best New Director at the prestigious Hong Kong Film Awards for it. He has also racked up two nominations in both the Hong Kong Film Awards and Taiwan’s coveted Golden Horse Film Awards. In 2001, he won the Golden Horse Best Supporting Actor for his role in Jackie’s New Police Story. However, it’s been hard for Asian male actors to break into Hollywood. Martial artists are the only ones who have really succeeded, but even that has been fraught with challenges and typecasting. Bruce Lee died young. Despite his iconic status today, he didn’t live to see the release of his only Hollywood effort, the now classic Enter the Dragon (1973). Jackie’s Hollywood debut came in 1980 with The Big Brawl (a.k.a. Battle Creek Brawl ). His film career actually started in 1962 as a child actor; he was credited in over two dozen films and uncredited in dozens more. Jet’s Hollywood debut was as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998). He had already been the lead in two dozen films. Donnie Yen had supporting roles in the Highlander and Blade franchises near the flip of the millennium, but he’s still not recognized outside the martial arts film genre. After over five dozen films, Donnie might finally catch Hollywood’s attention next year with Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon 2 and Star Wars: Rogue One . Unlike Jackie’s and Jet’s struggle to be taken seriously as dramatic actors, Wu has already played many dramatic roles – with more to come – so he’s not worried about being typecast in Hollywood. “The reason why I haven’t done martial arts films in a while is because I’ve seen – you talk about Jackie and a lot of people who wanted to be taken seriously in drama – and I had already opened the path for myself doing drama, as my first film was a big dramatic challenge. I went that way rather than becoming the action star. Being more versatile. If you can play dramatic roles and also fight, then you have a much broader spectrum of things you can go to versus if you start off just doing action and you’re only perceived as an action star, it’s hard to go back. I ended up doing it that way, being taken more seriously as an actor that can also fight. And also making conscious choices making sure I do dramatic roles versus action ability or action skill, developing a career that way, so I’m not so worried about it. I know I have that talent and that ability behind me, so I can totally turn down roles. I can be stereotyped through Badlands , but I can always turn down the other offers that come after that and look for things that are more dramatically challenging. And that’s why I’m glad that Warcraft is going to come after Badlands because that character is really a dramatic role, a motion-capture role. It’s not an action-based role at all. So it shows more diversity in terms of my ability skills-wise. And then I go on to another movie, Geostorm , which is going to come out after Warcraft , which I finished already. It’s a big Gerard Butler end-of-the-world type of movie. I play another role that is very, very different than the Badlands character. So I’m coming out of the gates consciously choosing a wide range of roles to let people know that I have that ability and I’m not just an action guy.” Wu confidently looks forward to breaking into a brighter Hollywood spotlight. “It’s kind of awesome. I’ve made a couple attempts before in the past to try to come back home and work in the States. And I think at that time, maybe ten years ago, most people in Hollywood were not aware of the Asian market at all in general. In the past few years, you see movies like Transformers 4 make more money in China than it did in the States or anywhere else in the world. Then you have Hollywood paying attention and now that’s driven the catalyst of bringing Asian actors to the States. And I started seeing that happening with other actors, and I’m like, ‘Wait, that guy or that girl, she speaks no English and she’s doing American product. Maybe I should give this another chance.’ And being American-born Chinese, I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, I speak English fluently. America is my home. I really should be doing this. I should really be making an effort to come back home and work back home.’ I started seriously doing it maybe two years ago, Warcraft being one of the first projects. I think Badlands is a more amazing project because it kind of highlights everything that I’ve been trained to be good at in Asia, that I’ve spent almost twenty years building a career at. As well as being the lead in the project? That’s amazing too. AMC is willing to put an Asian-American in the lead of a big huge American show. It shows that their mentality shift has changed a lot. We’ve moved a long way since Sixteen Candles (1984) Long Duk Dong, I guess. So I’m proud to be part of that movement in the American media landscape. Let’s see if it works.” The Journey to the West Into the Badlands is a groundbreaking crossover project for AMC, not just for the West but for the East too. “I know it’s definitely being shown in Hong Kong for sure because they’ve already started asking me for interviews. In China, I’m not sure on what television platform but I know that through their internet portals, Walking Dead and all that stuff is all available over internet through subscription services there. It’s definitely one of AMC’s goals is to spread further into the Asian region.” Wu says that they’ve already begun work on Season Two, although AMC hasn’t yet green-lit that at this writing. What’s more, back here in America, AMC has launched Kung Fu Fridays as a warm-up for Into the Badlands . “That was kind of our idea, actually. When we pitched the show, they immediately asked us what would help audiences understand this genre a little better. Well, when I was a kid growing up [in the San Francisco Bay Area], we had Kung Fu Theater , on KTSF, with Tat Mau Wong. Remember that? I grew up watching that and that’s how I got my vocabulary of Kung Fu film. They said, ‘Yeah, we should do something like that.’ So then we suggested a whole bunch of titles for them to acquire and they started playing the Kung Fu Friday thing.” Despite Wu’s extensive dramatic background, ultimately Into the Badlands comes down to the martial arts. He is coming home, home to America and home to the martial arts that he loves. “At the highest level, we are definitely making the show for people who are enthused by this genre of filmmaking. We really hope that we are pleasing those people. We’re really making it for them. A lot of AMC executives had no idea of what martial arts is about so we went and took carte blanche and tried to do what we thought was right and what martial artists will think is cool. We’re trying to please the higher echelon of the audience – the people who know martial arts and have been watching this stuff since they were kids. If we can impress them, that’s our ultimate goal.” By Gene Ching (C) January + February 2016 KungFuMagazine.com. Republished by permission.