“Kung Fu”: Shannon Dang, Asian Representation & More Reasons to Watch New Series From The CW
The new midseason series Kung Fu makes its big premiere tonight on The CW. The action-adventure family drama, a reimagining of of the beloved 70s series, has been updated with a predominantly Asian cast and a strong Asian female lead (Olivia Liang). Below we’ve listed a few reasons why we’re digging the show and why you should tune in.
Martial Arts | Kung Fu‘s fight sequences are some of the best on TV. Three minutes into the premiere episode, viewers are taken on an intense ride as the series’ heroine tackles her first big fight — and it’s pretty awesome. “We have an amazing stunt team who is world class,” star Olivia Liang says of the martial arts seen on the show. “I think we have the best stunt team on earth — and you can take that to the bank.” In addition to that first big fight, the whole opening act of the episode is so beautifully shot that at times, I felt like I was watching a big-budget action movie.
Shannon Dang | Not going to lie — when Nicky’s sister Althea is first introduced, I could’ve sworn it was star Olivia Liang pulling double duty and that we were dealing with a Parent Trap situation where Liang played twins — Nicky and Althea. But no, Althea, a software developer, is brought to life by the wonderful Shannon Dang. Althea is a hilarious character you’ll fall in love with. She’s giving us major Brenda Song vibes. Althea is the kind of girl whom you’d want to be best friends with. If she was a real person, she would absolutely need to have her own reality show.
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Tzi Ma | The LEGENDARY Tzi Ma has returned to television! We were first introduced to the actor in the buddy-cop comedy Rush Hour, where he played Consul Han. He was also most notably in 2020’s live-action remake of Disney’s Mulan. The fact that Tzi Ma is in this show as a series regular is a pretty big deal. “I’m more of a feature [film] guy,” he says. “For me to do a TV series, it’s gotta mean a lot to me.” Being a part of the first dramatic series involving an Asian-American family is what attracted him to the role. “We see ourselves in sitcoms situations, so we never are seen in this kind of dramatic setting.”
Love Triangle | Series creator and co-showrunner Christina Kim describes the Kung Fu‘s love triangle as being “really hot.” On one side, Evan Hartly (Gavin Stenhouse), an assistant district attorney and ex, has so much history with Nicky; on the other side, is Henry Yan (Eddie Liu), a Chinese history buff and martial arts expert, who is a new face to Nicky. Get ready to pick a side. So far, we’re Team Henry.
Asian Representation | A big part of the show is about representation. Though EP Kim is Korean American, it was really important for her while writing the story that she tell an encompassing shared Asian-American experience. “There’s also specific Chinese-American, Chinese stories, so it’s really important,” says Kim. “We talk about it a lot,” Liang says of her whole cast, “how historic this show is and how important it is for our community, and not just for our community to feel seen, but for other communities to see us and remember that we’re part of their lives and their narrative, too.”
Kung Fu is kick-ass, high-octane fun with fight scenes that will leave you breathless, and mythology that will get you hooked.
The series premieres tonight at 8pm on The CW.