The upcoming Karate Kid film is continuing to ready its cinematic crane-kick, gathering more cast members as it prepares to get in front of cameras. The film, due out before the end of the year, will see Sony enter the Karate-verse, uniting original star Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso with Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han, from the 2010 remake. Following the news that American Born Chinese star Ben Wang will be the one waxing on (and waxing off) in the leading role, there’s another addition to roster: Ming-Na Wen.
According to Variety, Wen has joined the film in an undisclosed role. But given her action-heavy turn as Fennec Shand in The Mandalorian and The Book Of Boba Fett – not to mention kicking ass in Agents Of SHIELD, and Mulan (hey, voice roles count) – you’d hope she’ll be getting into the karate combat here. As well as Macchio and Chan, she joins incoming cast members Joshua Jackson and Sadie Stanley. The new Karate Kid (yet to be officially titled, unless it becomes the third film in the franchise simply known as The Karate Kid) will be directed by The End Of The F***ing World creator Jonathan Entwistle, from a screenplay by Rob Lieber.
Expect production to get underway before too long – the film is slated for cinemas on 13 December, arriving in the wake of Cobra Kai’s final season, due on Netflix at some point in 2024. Whether or not that show will also end up dovetailing into Sony’s film is TBC – we could be in for a blackbelt in world-building if so.