American Born Chinese began life as a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang and was published in 2006. The graphic novel was critically acclaimed and won many awards. It was a finalist in the Young People’s Literature category of the 2006 National Book Awards, it won the Eisner Award in 2007 for Best Graphic Album: New and the Michael L. Printz Award in 2007, to name only a few.

The new Disney+ adaptation of the story stands a good chance of being excellent, considering that it is based on such rich and entertaining source material. However, since Disney productions have such a distinctive style, you should definitely expect the tone of the Disney version to move significantly away from that of the original, probably in a less esoteric and more universally appealing direction.

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This has been the general pattern with Disney content in the past, with the possible exception of the surprisingly dark Fantasia from 1940. This old classic is well worth a watch if you’re curious to see how the Disney ethos has changed over the decades. But, the company is making new classics. Here’s everything we know about American Born Chinese.

American Born Chinese: The Plot

     Disney+

The plot of American Born Chinese centers on the main character Jin Wang. Jin Wang is a high school student who lives in a quiet suburb of San Francisco, having recently moved there from the city’s Chinatown. Although Jin Wang was born and raised in the US, he struggles to reconcile the various aspects of his identity, and this struggle to make sense of his place in the world is a central theme of the entire story.

The regular concerns and tribulations of a high school existence are interrupted when he meets a new foreign exchange student named Wei-Chen. Wei-Chen is from Taiwan and introduces Jin Wang to the classic Chinese story Journey to the West. The story of this old novel, which was first published in 1592 and has inspired so many adaptations over the years, is woven into the plot of American Born Chinese. If you find yourself feeling curious about Chinese literature, this new television show would serve as a perfectly accessible introduction. Jin Wang’s acquaintance with Wei-Chen draws him into being mixed up in a supernatural conflict between various gods and characters from Chinese mythology.

One of the major characters from Journey to the West is The Monkey King, who will also figure prominently in American Born Chinese and is shown at length in the featurette. This fascinating character is also part of the Jackie Chan film The Forbidden Kingdom. The Monkey King is a figure from Chinese mythology who predates Journey to the West. He is also a skilled fighter with many magic abilities, such as shapeshifting, making copies of himself, or even controlling the weather.

American Born Chinese: The Cast

     A24

The main character Jin Wang will be played by the relatively unknown Ben Wang. The young star’s previous credits include playing Eli Brown in the television show MacGyver, and Franklin in the show Sex Appeal. The Monkey King will be played by Daniel Wu.

The biggest name in the cast by far is Michelle Yeoh, who will play Guanyin, a mythical bodhisattva associated with the qualities of compassion and mercy. Jesuit missionaries sent to China described her as The Goddess of Mercy, so don’t be surprised if part of her role in the show is helping Jin Wang out of tight spots and cheering him up when he’s not feeling too good about his life.

The Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh has been in the news most recently for being the first Asian actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once, a recent science fiction film directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. This is her second time working with the director Destin Daniel Cretton, after their collaboration on the Marvel movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Release Date

If you’re looking forward to catching this one, you don’t have much longer to wait. According to Deadline, the series will first be shown in March 2023 at the South by Southwest Film Festival. As for a streaming release on Disney+, the date is a little vaguer. It should definitely be 2023, probably the early part of the year, and maybe even spring if you’re lucky.