Netflix has dropped the first official trailer for its upcoming action comedy series The Brothers Sun. The series is led by Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh, who shows off her ruthless gangster skills in the new trailer.
The Brothers Sun explores Taiwan’s criminal triads and is a product of Brad Falchuk’s four-year deal with Netflix. For this particular series, Falchuk partnered with Bryan Wu for development, with Wu also serving as the primary writer. The Brothers Sun features an all-Asian cast, as well as an all-Asian writers room. Following the success of shows like Beef and American Born Chinese, it is very exciting to see another series centering on Asian-Americans arrive on Netflix.
Here’s everything we know about The Brothers Sun so far.
Michelle Yeoh steals the show in The Brothers Sun‘s trailer
Netflix dropped the first official trailer for The Brothers Sun on December 8. The trailer confirmed that the eight-episode series will premiere on the streamer on January 4, 2024.
The trailer sees Yeoh becoming a gangster when her family’s past catches up with them in Los Angeles. She is eerily calm and cool as she warns her enemies that she’s not their prisoner and dares them to go after her son. However, she might regret that dare when she realizes her enemy plans on going after her youngest, non-experienced gangster son, Bruce (Sam Song Li), who was raised in California and is oblivious to his family’s history. The trailer captures the humor and chaos that abounds when Bruce is thrust into the gangster lifestyle with his mother and older brother. Yeoh steals the show with her brutal tendencies and hilarious demeanor, successfully setting a darkly comedic tone for the series.
What to expect from The Brothers Sun
As mentioned above, Yeoh is set to lead The Brothers Sun as Eileen “Mama” Sun, a mother of two with a history as a Taipei gangster. Starring alongside Yeoh are Sun Moon star Justin Chien and Take the Night star Sam Song Li as Eileen’s sons, Charles and Bruce Sun. Rounding out the Sun family is Reclaim star Johnny Kou as Big Sun, Eileen’s husband.
Few details have been released about the rest of The Brothers Sun‘s characters, many of whom are portrayed by newcomers to the industry. The series will also feature Joon Lee as TK, Jenny Yang as Xing, Highdee Kuan as Alexis, Jon Xue Zhang as Blood Boots, Madison Hu as Grace, Alexis Rhee as Ms. Wong, Ron Yuan as Frank Ma, and Chau Long as Steve.
Meanwhile, the official synopsis for The Brothers Sun reads:
When the head of a powerful Taiwanese triad is shot by a mysterious assassin, his eldest son, legendary killer Charles “Chairleg” Sun (Justin Chien) heads to Los Angeles to protect his mother, Eileen (Michelle Yeoh), and his naive younger brother, Bruce (Sam Song Li) — who’s been completely sheltered from the truth of his family until now.
But as Taipei’s deadliest societies and a new rising faction go head-to-head for dominance — Charles, Bruce and their mother must heal the wounds caused by their separation and figure out what brotherhood and family truly mean before one of their countless enemies kills them all.
The Brothers Sun has the potential to draw from real-life history, especially if it chooses to include or draw inspiration from one of the three main triads in Taiwan—the Bamboo Union, the Four Seas Gang, or the Celestial Path Alliance Gang. These are considered the largest and most powerful gangs in Taiwan, with some even suspecting the gangs boast quite a bit of power due to their influence on corrupt politicians. Hence, the idea of The Brothers Sun isn’t too far-fetched as it examines the fallout that would arise if the leader of one of these powerful gangs was assassinated.
Meanwhile, the focus on the Sun family promises to make the series quite hilarious and emotional. Seeing one son oblivious to his family’s past while his mother and brother are becoming gangsters could be pretty humorous. However, the show could also explore the Suns’ immigration story and how their lives in Los Angeles differ from their lives in Taiwan. There are a lot of directions The Brothers Sun could go, and it already has potential for authentic Asian-American representation and exploration of Taiwan’s history.
(featured image: Netflix)
