Fans of Kung Fu Panda have a lot to be excited about. In honor of National Panda Day, Netflix has officially announced Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, an all-new series set in the Kung Fu Panda universe. Better yet, the show brings back Jack Black as the voice of Po to create more "PANDA-MONIUM" in the role. No additional names have yet been announced for the voice cast and it's unclear when the series will start streaming.
Peter Hastings and Shaunt Nigoghossian executive produced Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight. Chris Amick and Ben Mekler serve as co-executive producers. DreamWorks Animation is the studio. You can read the official synopsis below.
Jack Black returns to Kung Fu Panda in the new series Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight. When a mysterious pair of weasels set their sights on a collection of four powerful weapons, Po must leave his home to embark on a globe-trotting quest for redemption and justice that finds him partnered up with a no-nonsense English knight named Wandering Blade. Together, these two mismatched warriors set out on an epic adventure to find the magical weapons first and save the world from destruction — and they may even learn a thing or two from each other along the way.
Kung Fu Panda: The Dark Knight Is the Sixth Kung Fu Panda Story
The Kung Fu Panda franchise was launched in 2008 with the original animated film. Featuring the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, James Hong, and Lucy Liu, the animated film was a tremendous hit at the box office, successfully launching an ongoing franchise. It was that year's highest-grossing animated movie and it was clear to DreamWorks that they had to make more of Po's adventures.
Kung Fu Panda 2 followed in 2011 with the third installment, Kung Fu Panda 3, releasing in 2016, both with Black back as Po. There have been rumors for years of a Kung Fu Panda 4 happening, but while there's been no new information on that front, the franchise will still be going strong on the small screen thanks to Netflix. Even so, the chance remains that a fourth film could happen with the franchise still around. Now that Jack Black has returned to the franchise with The Dragon Knight, there could be a renewed interest in the franchise from the fans of the original films who had trouble adapting to the change in voice actors.
Aside from an NBC holiday special in 2010, the series was previously adapted as the TV show Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness for Nickelodeon. Mick Wingert takes over as the voice of Po, though Liu and Hong reprise their roles. The series did pretty well with three overall seasons before wrapping up its run in 2016. In 2018, DreamWorks teamed up with Prime Video to release the series Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny. Wingert also returned to voice Po. The series consisted of a single season and 26 episodes.
Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight doesn't yet have a release date announced. You can stream the film when it's available on Netflix.