Disney+ has announced the premiere date for American Born Chinese, the coming-of-age action-comedy series about cultural identity with a mix of Chinese mythology to sweeten the deal. The series’ premiere date of May 24 was announced with a brand-new look at the adventure audiences can expect when it hits Disney+.
The 30-second peek at the genre-hopping series, which will air during the Oscars telecast, from Disney aims to celebrate three Oscar nominees who star in American Born Chinese Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu. The three who led the Award-winning movie Everything Everywhere All at Once reunite in American Born Chinese with Hsu appearing as a guest star.
American Born Chinese is a coming-of-age story based on the graphic novel of the same name by Gene Luen Yang. The story follows average teenager Jin Wang as he juggles his high school social life with his life at home while struggling with his identity as a Chinese-American. Everything changes for Jin when he meets a foreign student Wei-Chen on the first day of school year as worlds start to collide and Jin becomes entangled in the battle of Chinese mythological gods.
Chinese Mythological Gods in 'American Born Chinese'
The mythological god character known as The Monkey King will be played by Daniel Wu (Reminiscence). Princess Iron Fan played by Poppy Liu, Ao-Kuang, the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, and Tze-Yo-Tzuh, creator of all earth.
The coming-of-age action-comedy features an international all-star cast alongside Yeoh, Quan, and Wu. The series also stars Ben Wang (Chang Can Dunk), two-time International Emmy Award nominee Yeo Yann Yann (Wet Season), Chin Han (Mortal Kombat), Sydney Taylor (Just Add Magic) and former Taekwondo champion Jimmy Liu. Guest stars include Hsu, Ronny Chieng, Leonard Wu, James Hong, Jimmy O. Yang and Lisa Lu.
The coming-of-age adventure series is produced by 20th Television and executive produced by its original author Yang, alongside Destin Daniel Cretton (Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Short Term 12), Kelvin Yu (Bob’s Burgers, Central Park), Melvin Mar and Jake Kasdan. Mar and Kasdan worked on Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level. Yu also serves as showrunner while Cretton is set to direct.
American Born Chinese premieres on May 24. Check out the action-packed TV spot below: