There has been a slight shake-up in the production of "Kung Fu Panda 3" after Rebel Wilson, the actress supposed to be voicing the adorable panda Mei Mei was forced to let go of the animated film because of an extended production commitment with another movie.
Wilson will be replaced instead by Kate Hudson, according to Empire Online, just a few months before the release of DreamWorks Animation's latest movie offering. The crew would be deleting all of the scenes Wilson has already finished so that there would be consistency in Hudson voicing Mei Mei.
Jack Black would be reprising his role as the lead character Po, who will finally be meeting his long-lost father Li Shan (voiced by Bryan Cranston). However, Po won't be recognizing his father at first.
Li Shan will introduce Po to a secluded panda paradise, where he will meet several of his kind, including Mei Mei, who falls desperately in love with him. His joyous reunion with the other pandas is short-lived though, since a new, more threatening supernatural villain named Kai (voiced by J.K. Simmons) is going all across China defeating kung fu masters.
To prepare for Kai's arrival, Po then trains the peace-loving pandas to become ready to face the new threat. He will be helped by his friends and fellow kung-fu stars such as Tigress (voiced by Angelina Jolie), Monkey (voiced by Jackie Chan), Mantis (voiced by Seth Rogen), Crane (voiced by David Cross) and Viper (voiced by Lucy Liu).
Co-director Jennifer Yuh Nelson shared with USA Today that the new villain is someone who is beyond the first two villains - Tai Lung and Shen. "He's a villain that Po is completely ill-equipped to face," she said.
Kai is a bull who has large horns, leather armor, and uses two jade swords with chains attached as his weapon of choice.
As threatening as Kai sounds, co-director Alessandro Carloni said that the new character will not fail to incorporate some humor, especially when his vulnerabilities are finally exposed.
"Kai wants revenge, and he's a bitter, bitter guy," Carloni said. "But when he becomes vulnerable, J.K. can make him hilarious."
When they were deciding on the next villain, Nelson and Carloni tried highlighting the strengths of Tai Lung and Shen, and realized that what was missing was supernatural abilities, since Tai Lung was a brawler while Shen used his brains to battle.
"You can't go brawler because Tai Lung was brawler. You can't go smarter because Shen was smarter. Where can you go? You have to go supernatural, bigger, and even more intimidating," said Nelson.
"Kung-Fu Panda 3" will be released on January 29, 2016.
