Long live the fighters… the kung fu fighters. DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 spiced up its marketing with a Dune: Part Two spoof, sending Po (voiced by Jack Black) to the sand dunes of Arrakis. “Just the right amount of spice,” says a graveled-voiced Po, who chows down on a bowl of grub after doing his best impression of Timothèe Chalamet’s hooded Paul Atreides. Let the spices flow and watch the new Kung Fu Panda 4 teaser below.
Nearly a decade after Kung Fu Panda 3, legendary Dragon Warrior Po returns with a new protège (the Awkwafina-voiced fox thief Zhen) and a new villain (Viola Davis’ shape-shifting sorceress The Chameleon), who schemes to steal the kung fu of all the old master villains Po defeated in the Kung Fu Panda trilogy.
In Kung Fu Panda 4, after three death-defying adventures defeating world-class villains with his unmatched courage and mad martial arts skills, Po, the Dragon Warrior, is called upon by destiny to … give it a rest already. More specifically, he’s tapped to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace. That poses a couple of obvious problems. First, Po knows as much about spiritual leadership as he does about the paleo diet, and second, he needs to quickly find and train a new Dragon Warrior before he can assume his new lofty position.
Even worse, there’s been a recent sighting of a wicked, powerful sorceress, Chameleon, a tiny lizard who can shapeshift into any creature, large or small. And Chameleon has her greedy, beady little eyes on Po’s Staff of Wisdom, which would give her the power to re-summon all the master villains whom Po has vanquished to the spirit realm. So, Po’s going to need some help. He finds it (kinda?) in the form of crafty, quick-witted thief Zhen, a corsac fox who really gets under Po’s fur but whose skills will prove invaluable. In their quest to protect the Valley of Peace from Chameleon’s reptilian claws, this comedic odd-couple duo will have to work together. In the process, Po will discover that heroes can be found in the most unexpected places.
Jack Black (The Super Mario Bros. Movie), Awkwafina (The Bad Guys), and Viola Davis (The Suicide Squad) lead a cast that includes Dustin Hoffman (the Kung Fu Panda trilogy) as Shifu, James Hong (Everything Everywhere All at Once) as Mr. Ping, Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) as Li, Ke Huy Quan (Loki) as Han, and Ian McShane (Kung Fu Panda) as Po’s arch-nemesis Tai Lung. Kung Fu Panda 4 is only in theaters March 8.