Jack Black is coming back as Po for the fourth Kung Fu Panda film and the actor just hinted that he’ll be preparing the next Dragon Warrior while facing off against his most formidable foe yet.
Jack Black was at CinemaCon last week where he reassured fans that Kung Fu Panda 4 is already in development over at DreamWorks Animation. The actor has voiced the tubby, martial arts master since the first movie came out in 2008.
Unfortunately, the upcoming film doesn’t have a trailer yet, so Black went ahead and shared details about the project.
“Po faces his biggest challenge ever. Will he survive?” Black teased.
In Kung Fu Panda 4, Po will leave the Valley of Peace for the big city where a new villain, The Chameleon, will become the Dragon Warrior’s newest adversary. What makes The Chameleon particularly dangerous is their ability to summon enemies that Po has fought before.
Po will be facing off against one of Master Shifu’s previous students and a crane that wants to eradicate pandas. It is also possible that The Chameleon will usher in the return of Ian McShane’s Tai Lung, Gary Oldman’s Lord Shen, and J.K. Simmons’ Kai.
According to Black, “Po has to defeat every one of them.”
While dealing with a dangerous foe, Po is also on a quest to search for a new Dragon Warrior as he realizes that he can’t hold on to the the title forever. Given his own experience, Po wants to find a worthy successor while he is still very capable.
We expect Po’s allies Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Crane (David Cross), and Viper (Lucy Liu) to return in Kung Fu Panda 4. James Hong’s Mr. Ping may also return in the upcoming movie.
It has been seven years since the last Kung Fu Panda movie premiered in theaters. DreamWorks has worked on establishing the Trolls franchise after Kung Fu Panda 3.
The studio did work on growing the Kung Fu Panda series by producing several TV shows for children. The latest entry into the series was Kung Fu Panda: Dragon Knight which premiered last year. In the Netflix series, Po went on an adventure around the world in search of four elemental weapons with a new friend, Sir Luthera.
Kung Fu Panda 4 is set to premiere in theaters on March 8, 2024.
Speaking of Jack Black, the School of Rock actor voiced Bowser in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which is on track to make a billion at the global box office. He recently called out Rockstar Games in hopes of starting a discussion about a Red Dead Redemption movie following the success of HBO’s The Last of Us. Finally, Black mentioned that he’d love to see Pedro Pascal voice Wario in a Mario sequel.
