(Updated 02/26/2024)
Here's a little secret about the KUNG-FU PANDA movies: They have surprisingly great action. When the last movie arrived in 2016, the series featured some of the best action you could find outside of top-shelf anime. And while there's a bit more excellent animated action now than there was seven years ago — think of titles like Netflix's incredible "Blue Eye Samurai" — truly impressive animated action scenes are still pretty rare.
So even if you're not a kid, and if you think the KUNG-FU PANDA movies sound silly thanks to the title, the new KUNG-FU PANDA 4 is a great opportunity to get on board. We've got the first trailer and a lot more info about the long-awaited sequel, so you can quickly get up to speed with one of the best and most frequently underrated animated movie series out there.
When Does Kung-Fu Panda 4 Come Out?
Universal Pictures will release KUNG-FU PANDA 4 in movie theaters on March 8, 2024.
Watch the New Kung-Fu Panda 4 Trailer
This new KUNG-FU PANDA 4 trailer starts with a nice little DUNE goof. Whether or not that footage is in the final movie, we don't know! But then it gets down to business with a quick but thorough overview of the sequel.
Anime Is a Big Influence on Kung-Fu Panda 4
While the first KUNG-FU PANDA movies were mostly influenced by live-action martial arts movies, this new sequel is equally influenced by anime. Part of that is due to the age of some of the film's designers and animators, who have grown up as huge anime fans thanks to the ever-increasing popularity and availability of anime.
The first KUNG-FU PANDA came out in 2008, and director Mike Mitchell has noted that the new movie is created in part by people who are young enough to have experienced the first film as kids. Those younger animators and designers carried their anime fandom into KUNG-FU PANDA 4. According to the director, that's just one of many new elements that push this sequel beyond what the filmmakers have been able to do in the past.
Is Kung-Fu Panda 4 Related to Any of the Spin-Off TV Series?
Beyond the fact that the movies and series all use the same characters, no. KUNG-FU PANDA 4 is a sequel to the previous movies, and that's it. "Mostly we were really focused on the previous three feature films," director Mike Mitchell has said.
Who Is the Kung-Fu Panda 4 Villain?
Jack Black's returning hero, Po, has to face The Chameleon, who can absorb martial arts abilities and change her shape as a result. That means that villains from past movies in the series can show up for a fight or two. We know Po's first foe, the tiger Tai Lung, will fight again, and it seems like that isn't the only returning baddie, either.
The Chameleon is voiced by Viola Davis, a brilliant choice that is representative of this franchise's general tendency to hire top-flight talent to voice characters in each movie.
The Cast of Kung-Fu Panda 4
In addition to Jack Black and Viola Davis, the cast of KUNG-FU PANDA 4 features the return of Dustin Hoffman as Po's former master Shifu, and Bryan Cranston as Po's father, Li Shan. James Hong also returns, as Po's adoptive father, the goose Mr. Ping. And Ian McShane reprises the role of villainous Tai Lung, the snow leopard who battled Po in the first movie, and who is revived from the Spirit Realm by the Chameleon.
There are new additions, too: Awkwafina voices Zhen, a fox and a thief whom Po reluctantly accepts as a companion, and Ke Huy Quan as the pangolin Han who leads a group of thieves. You can see some of the cast at work in the video above.
KUNG-FU PANDA 4 opens on March 8.
All images courtesy of Dreamworks Animation and Universal Pictures.