In recent years, alongside blockbuster films and high-quality television series across various genres, Netflix has also placed special emphasis on animated films, featuring impressive works such as Klaus and BoJack Horseman. Recently, this studio announced that it has successfully acquired 3 promising projects, including Monkey King (The Monkey King), based on the story of Journey to the West, which is already very familiar to audiences in Vietnam and Asia. Notably, the role of producer for this animated series has been entrusted to the legendary actor/comic Stephen Chow.
The photo posted by Netflix on Twitter confirms the upcoming release of the animated series Monkey King produced by Stephen Chow.
Journey to the West by author Wu Cheng’en has long become an inspiration for many famous animated series, including Dragon Ball and The God of High School. Set in the 16th century, this work revolves around the journey of Tang Seng (Tripitaka) to the western regions (India) to obtain the Buddhist scriptures to bring back to China. Assisting him throughout the arduous journey are three disciples: Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing, all of whom are key characters who must endure many hardships due to their past mistakes.
To date, Journey to the West has been adapted countless times on both large and small screens, with many derivative works such as comics and video games. Even in Vietnam, every summer, the classic television version from 1986 is re-broadcast. Although the plot remains unchanged, this series continues to receive attention and love from many audiences of all ages.
Meanwhile, Journey to the West is no stranger to Stephen Chow, as he has created many adaptations based on this novel. When still acting, he played the role of Sun Wukong in A Chinese Odyssey: Part One – Pandora’s Box (1995) and A Chinese Odyssey: Part Two – Cinderella (1995). After transitioning to directing/producing, Stephen Chow continued to explore the classic work by Wu Cheng’en with two parts of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons in 2013 and 2017, while also appearing as a supporting actor in the second film.
On its official Twitter, Netflix announced that the entire voice cast for the upcoming animated series Monkey King will be of Asian descent to ensure the authenticity of the original work. This includes well-known names such as Jimmy O. Yang, Bowen Yang, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, Jo Koy, Ron Yuan, Hoon Lee, Stephanie Hsu, Andrew Pang, Andrew Kishino, Jodi Long, James Sie, and BD Wong.
True to its title, Monkey King will focus on the character Sun Wukong rather than delving deeply into the journey to the western regions of the four disciples of Tang Seng. Netflix stated: “This series is inspired by the legendary novel Journey to the West, centering around a very special monkey and a magical staff. A love for a treasure combined to cause chaos in heaven and earth, facing gods, demons, dragons, and even the greatest foes.” According to this description, it seems that Monkey King will take place before Sun Wukong is rescued from the Five Elements Mountain by Tang Seng.
Currently, Netflix has not yet set a specific release schedule for Monkey King. Some sources indicate that this series will premiere in 2022. Besides the collaboration with Netflix, Stephen Chow is also working on the sequel to the film Kung Fu Hustle, one of the comedy-action works that significantly contributed to bringing his name closer to international audiences.
According to comicbook