Disney+ has a pretty great treat coming next week for those of us who were blown away by A24’s 2022 masterpiece Everything Everywhere All At Once. Several of the actors who starred in that Oscar-winner — specifically, the actors who played the mother, father, and daughter — are also starring in American Born Chinese, an 8-episode adaptation of Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel of the same name. And to give you a sense of the anticipation surrounding this Disney+ release, consider this comment that someone left after watching the trailer on YouTube:
“As a Chinese-American myself, I read the graphic novel in high school and it really connected with me. I’m really hoping the series captures the same feeling.”
Fortunately, as the headline of this piece indicates, that optimism doesn’t seem to be misplaced.
Ahead of its May 24 debut, American Born Chinese already has a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Granted, that score is based on only a small number of reviews so far — nevertheless, it’s still great to see. And as for what this show is all about, the story is built around a regular American teenager whose life is changed when he befriends the son of a mythological god. Per Disney, “This is the story of a young man’s battle for his own identity, told through family, comedy, and action-packed Kung-Fu.”
Emmy Award-winning writer/producer Kelvin Yu (Bob’s Burgers, Central Park) serves as executive producer and showrunner. And the Everything Everywhere actors who are also on hand here include Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Stephanie Hsu.
The early consensus is that American Born Chinese is a powerful, dazzling, heartfelt exploration of the search for identity and of the importance of self-acceptance, with enough spectacle added to the mix a la movies like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to keep Disney+ subscribers absolutely spellbound. And I can’t wait for it.
