See Jack Black Return As Beloved Character In New Trailer
Jack Black has played some iconic character, but one his most beloved is set to receive a new series, and the first look is shown in a new trailer.
This article is more than 2 years old
The world is finally healing from two years of a raging pandemic, and here’s the proof: Jack Black is back! The School of Rock actor hasn’t had a major project since 2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level hit theaters, but now, the 52-year-old actor is returning to one of his most beloved roles, as Po the giant panda turned “Dragon Warrior,” in a new Kung Fu Panda animated series for Netflix. The streaming service has released a trailer for its upcoming animated projects, including Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight.
We’ve known since March that Jack Black would return to the Kung Fu Panda franchise. Netflix announced the new series, and Black’s participation, in a tweet on National Panda Day, a fitting move for the streaming service. It marked the first Kung Fu Panda animated series for Netflix, and the first continuation of the animated series since 2019’s Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny for Amazon Prime. The announcement, particularly Black’s return, was well-received by fans.
Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight follows Jack Black’s character of Po as he faces off against a mysterious pair of weasels who have set their sights on a collection of four powerful weapons. Po must leave his home and go on a globe-trotting quest for redemption and justice. He teams up with Wandering Blade, a no-nonsense English knight, to find the magical weapons before the weasels do, and save the world from destruction in the process. The trailer also features other upcoming Netflix animated projects, including the new Sonic the Hedgehog series Sonic Prime, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, Boss Baby, Daniel Spellbound, and My Dad the Bounty Hunter. New episodes of current shows were also announced in the trailer, including The Cuphead Show! and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
Having Jack Black appear in one of their animation projects is a coup for Netflix, which has been enduring some tough headlines recently, according to ComicBook.com. For the first time ever, the streaming service reported losing subscribers, over 200,000 so far this year, according to reports. They expect those losses to grow to about 2 million this year, so finding content that brings in new viewers (particularly younger viewers) is paramount. The service was also highly criticized when it recently announced it was cutting several major animation projects, including a much-heralded adaptation of Jeff Smith’s comic Bone and other animated shows. A number of people were laid off, leading to criticism from animation fans, who pointed out the streaming service’s free-spending ways included dropping hundreds of millions of dollars on live-action movies and shows in recent years.
With the pandemic over, Jack Black has several projects lined up. He is providing a voice in Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood, and will also voice Claptrap in the live-action adaptation of the video game Borderlands. He is also voicing Bowser in the upcoming Super Mario movie, starring Chris Pratt as Mario and Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong. He is also about to start filming a romantic comedy, Oh Hell No, for release in 2023.
