Michelle Yeoh is the deity of compassion in ‘American Born Chinese’ first look

The first-look trailer for “American Born Chinese” was released at the D23 Expo on Saturday and features brief glimpses of action-packed scenes, mythology and Michelle Yeoh as the Chinese deity of compassion.

The trailer for the upcoming Disney Plus series, a live-action adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name by Gene Luen Yang, features several familiar faces from Chinese mythology, such as the Monkey King Sun Wukong and Guanyin, a Bodhisattva associated with compassion, played by Yeoh.

“It’s a lot of fun. It’s a lot of magic. There’s a lot of badass action,” the “Everything Everywhere All At Once” star says in the featurette. “It is a magical ride and that is what Disney Plus is about, isn’t it?”

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The trailer, which was released at the D23 Expo over the weekend, also showcased Ben Wang as Jin Wang, a teenager struggling to juggle his high school and home life. Many veteran actors join Wang in the series, including Yeo Yann Yann, Chin Han and Daniel Wu.

“I'm so happy to be reunited with Michelle Yeoh but also to do it with other Asian actors who have been working really hard for the last 10, 20 years to push for more representation," Ke Huy Quan, who also starred alongside Yeoh in “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” told Entertainment Weekly in February. “It's a crazy and wild story, so I can't wait for the world to see it."

“American Born Chinese” celebrated its 15th year anniversary since its commercial publishing under First Second Books this year. Speaking to NextShark last year, Yang anticipated that the TV adaptation would have a few changes from the source material and a new perspective on the cultural issues at the heart of the story.

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“We’re asking, ‘What does it mean to re-engage with these issues in the context of 2021?’” Yang told NextShark.

The Disney Plus series, which touches on themes of identity, culture, family and friendship, is created, written and co-executive produced by Charles and Kelvin Yu.

Besides director Daniel Destin Cretton, who also serves as a co-executive producer of the series, it was also confirmed that filmmaker Peng Zhang and “Charlie’s Angels” star Lucy Liu are set to direct some episodes of “American Born Chinese.”

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Disney has yet to announce the release date for “American Born Chinese.”

Featured Image via Disney Plus

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