'Kung Fu Panda 3' is an upcoming comedy martial-arts film intended as the third in the popular animated series of the same name. Jack Black returns as Po the panda and is featured in the latest trailed released by 20th Century Fox. Po is reunited with his real father, returns to a panda village, and will face a new supernatural villain named Kai.
Jack Black will reprise his role as Po the titular panda in the upcoming 3D-animated film produced by DreamWorks Animation and Oriental DreamWorks. According to Coming Soon, the newly released trailer by 20th Century Fox shows the continuing adventures of Po as he is reunited with his long-estranged father Li and taken back to a secret panda village. Po is then tasked at training his fellow pandas for martial arts to defeat the supernatural villain Kai who is threatening to defeat all kung fu masters in China.
Several actors will be returning to 'Kung Fu Panda 3' to portray their respective characters, according to /Film. Angelina Jolie will reprise her role as Tigress, Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu, Jackie Chan as Monkey, Seth Rogen as Mantis and Lucy Liu as Viper. Bryan Cranston is joining the cast as Li, Po's Father, and Oscar-awardee J.K. Simmons has come aboard as the villain Kai.
The third film in the comedy and martial arts animated series will be helmed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alsessandro Carloni. According to Entertainment Weekly, Nelson hinted at Simmon's new character as the series' first supernatural villain. She said, "He's somebody that's beyond Tai Lung, beyond Shen... He's a villain that Po is completely ill-equipped to face."
The first two villains in the series were Tai Lung and Shen. Tai Lung, voiced by Ian McShane, was a muscular snow leopard raised and trained by Master Shifu until he sought vengeance for not being picked as the new Dragon Warrior. Lord Shen, voiced by Gary Oldman, was a scion of the peacock clan who sought to reclaim his former home with the use of force.
Kai was first introduced in June as the first supernatural antagonist in the popular franchise. He is portrayed as a bull with massive horns and leather armor donning two jade swords as weapons. Nelson explained that Kai's character development called for a villain that was bigger, more intimidating and tougher to defeat than his predecessors.
'Kung Fu Panda 3' is the sequel to 2011's comedy martial-arts film of the same name. It is scheduled to be released on January 29, 2016 and is currently in post-production. The film series featuring humanoid animals earned critical acclaim being nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Animated feature as well as winning several Annie Awards and Emmy Awards.
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