Daniel Wu and Jim Liu (Light the Night) prophesize that the new Disney+ series American Born Chinese will show Sun Wukong under a new sky: as architect and foundation of a rebellious son. Sun Wukong is more than just your typical specter. One of three spirit guardians to a Buddhist monk seeking ancient scriptures on a quest from China to India in the 16th century Chinese classic Journey to the West, Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, is a shapeshifting trickster hero.
With a size-shifting staff and the ability to marathon-morph his body, Sun Wukong has influenced characters such as Dragon Ball’s Son Goku with his monkey tail and Power Pole while Naruto’s Naruto Uzumaki’s omen Shadow Clone Jutsu is leased from the Monkey King’s ability to derail his opponents with multiple copies of himself.
Sun Wukong will also be a latchkey for the upcoming Disney+ series American Born Chinese from the original graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang adapted by Kelvin Yu (Bob’s Burgers). Daniel Wu (Into the Badlands) will play Sun Wukong, telling the EW, “I’ve actually been asked to play Sun Wukong many times when I was working in China, but it was almost always the Journey to the West story. That story has been told literally thousands of times on film, on TV, in books, everything. So I didn’t think there was anything new I could bring to the character, but what’s interesting about American Born Chinese is that Gene Luen Yang wrote Sun Wukong in a different stage of life.”
“He’s no longer the young, rebellious, naughty guy that he was,” Wu continued. “He’s a father now, and the leader of security up in Heaven, so he has a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders. It’s indicative of what real life is like. Even though I’m playing a mythological character, I totally relate to that relationship where you’re trying to balance this work life while also dealing with a child growing up.”
The Monkey King’s son, Wei-Chen, played by Jim Liu, breaks into the sphere of humankind after poaching his father’s staff. Using high school as a surrogate to the mortal world, he poses as a transfer student. While it’s not Liu’s first hammer onto screens, it is his first American production, and English isn’t his first language.
“When he came to the set, it reminded me so much of when I first went to Asia to work there,” Wu said. “My Chinese wasn’t that good, and I was confused on set like half the time, trying to fit in. It was the same thing for Jimmy. I could see the nerves and also see him trying to be cool about it. But he’s a hard worker and he has a tremendous amount of charisma, so that helps a lot.”
Familiar with Wu’s work in Asian movies, the actors bonded over translating thoughts layered in two languages and sports. “Daniel Wu is a huge star in Asia,” Liu told EW. “My mom, my whole family, my friends, they all know him. So when I realized I was going to be in the same show with Daniel, I was super shocked and excited. When I first met him, he was super warm and kind. We watched NBA basketball games together, and we root for the same team, the Golden State Warriors. We watched basketball together and played around on set. He was really easy to work with and I was very happy to work with him.
Yang’s graphic novel American Born Chinese alternates between protagonist Jin Wang’s high school life and the story of the Monkey King from Journey to the West which focuses on the struggles of Jin’s assimilation and Sun Wukong’s odyssey into tactical self-awareness. Jin Wang will be played by Ben Wang (Chang Can Dunk).
American Born Chinese unfurls the fantasy over other mythical beings like Guanyin, the goddess of mercy played by Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once). Guanyin is not in Yang’s novel but plays a pivotal role in Journey to the West and in the upcoming series. American Born Chinese will adopt some of the most iconic figures of world literature.
“It is daunting, because people in Asia have not seen that either,” Wu said. “So it might take a little bit for them to adapt to it. But once they feel the universality of the theme, they’ll understand where this version of Sun Wukong is coming from.”
American Born Chinese shows the Monkey King in his most familiar form in one episode set in the realm of gods in Heaven in a flashback to Sun Wukong’s earlier life.
“I thought it was cool because it completes my character,” Wu said about the flashback. “When we start, he’s more stern and stoic, but he wasn’t always that way. As a youngster, he was very much like his son, and you get to see that rambunctious, rebellious, naughty side of the Monkey King.”
“Being able to play this character from young to old is really cool, and it gives the American audience a little background,” Wu continued. “I hope that, once people finish watching American Born Chinese, that they go and watch one of the many versions of Journey to the West so they get an idea of who Monkey King actually is.”
American Born Chinese premiered May 24 on Disney+.