Our favorite crime-fighting panda is returning to the big screen in Kung Fu Panda 4. However, the Furious Five are absent from the film’s latest trailer, raising questions about what happened to them.
Kung Fu Panda first premiered in 2008 and has since grown into a sprawling media franchise consisting of three films and three TV series. The shows and movies center on Po Ping (Jack Black), a clumsy and childish big panda destined to become the legendary kung fu practitioner known as the Dragon Warrior. While Po is the main protagonist in the Kung Fu Panda franchise, the Five play a major role in the film series. The Five are meant to represent the five animal styles in Chinese martial arts and consist of Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Master Viper (Lucy Liu), Master Monkey (Jackie Chan), Master Mantis (Seth Rogen), and Master Crane (David Cross).
Although the Five have different voice actors in the TV shows, Jolie, Liu, Chan, Rogen, and Cross have reprised their roles for all three Kung Fu Panda movies, with their star power being a huge draw for audiences. The Five also help elevate the film’s humor, emotion, and character development, especially Tigress, given that she had initially hoped to be the Dragon Warrior.
All of which is to say: the Five’s absence from the Kung Fu Panda 4 trailer is surprising.
Where are the Furious Five?
The Five aren’t just absent in the Kung Fu Panda 4 trailer—they haven’t played a significant role in the franchise since 2016. They returned for Kung Fu Panda 3 and the final season of Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness in 2016, but haven’t been seen since. Meanwhile, two Kung Fu Panda shows have aired since then: Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny and Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight. Many viewers were disappointed by their absence in both shows, and it even led to questions about whether the Five would be in Kung Fu Panda 4.
There wasn’t any explanation for the Five’s absence in the shows. They just … weren’t there. It simply seems the franchise is increasingly becoming the Po show. This isn’t necessarily surprising, as they’ve always been a bit sidelined in the series. Po is always the one increasing in power, being the center of prophecies, and finding out more about his history, while the Five just mainly fight alongside him. Kung Fu Panda 4 will see him taking on a new role as the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace, but is there room for the Five in his new adventures?
Despite their absence in the trailer, director Mike Mitchell and producer Rebecca Huntley confirmed to Collider that the Five will make an appearance in the new movie. However, they also reiterated that this movie sees Po in a new role in a new location, so the focus will be more on him and a slate of new characters. So, viewers can rest assured that nothing drastic has happened to the Five. They’re still the kung fu masters of the jade palace and will be returning for Kung Fu Panda 4, but their roles are getting a bit smaller as the focus shifts more fully to Po.
(featured image: Nickelodeon)
