Po the Panda won the hearts of the entire world when he made his debut in 2008's Kung Fu Panda, and his adventures continue on Netflix in the new series Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight. The series debuted on the streamer in the summer of 2022, with season 2 having just been released. Under showrunner Peter Hastings, Jack Black returns to voice the ever-upbeat Dragon Warrior Po, with many new characters joining the Kung Fu Panda mythos.
In Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight season 2, Po continues his journey outside of China and encounters new challenges along the way. With exciting allies like Wandering Blade (Rita Ora) and more, Po brings all the comedic kung fu action the world knows and loves him for to save the day again in Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight.
Screen Rant spoke to Peter Hastings about Kung Fu Panda: Dragon Knight season 2, where the story takes Po and his allies, and where the series could go in the future.
Peter Hastings on Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight Season 2
Screen Rant: With season 2 of Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight now on Netflix, could you share a bit about the show's production timeline? Were the seasons produced back-to-back, or were they just very close together?
Peter Hastings: Yeah, we didn't really take a break so much, so as soon as we found out we were doing a season 2, we were on it, and we just try to roll on with the production and keep going. In terms of the writing, there's all sorts of questions that we've set up for the second season, so we want to get on that as we move forward. So, it's been going on for a while, and of course, it takes quite a while to produce a half hour of animation.
There are a number of unresolved questions and story elements going into season 2. Which were some of your favorites to tackle?
Peter Hastings: Well, obviously, a really big one is Po leaving China and going out into the world and into India. The time period is a little vague about when everything is happening, so a lot of the really fun things are the design work that we get to do, then we get a little more fish out of water stuff from Po when he goes to a new country with different traditions and stuff like that. In the story and design, we have consultants when we go another country, including China, so we got really particular about architecture and food and wedding ceremonies and things like that, both to be authentic and respectful, and also just for the fun of it.
We also worked with an animation studio in India, and they got very excited when they found out we were going to India. And then, we've kind of posed a lot of questions as Po and Wandering Blade are in pursuit of the villains and these weapons, and we don't really know the whole story about them, and we get to reveal more and more about them. So, it's fun to see when new surprises come up, it's the kind of thing when somebody says 'Oh, I love that episode!', and I'm thinking, 'Oh, wait till you get to this one later down, because there's this great surprise happening in there!'
In the Kung Fu Panda movies, we saw Po's journey as the Dragon Warrior fighting alongside the Furious Five. How would you say is Po's starting point in The Dragon Knight is different from where he began in the movies?
Peter Hastings: Well, I love the very first Kung Fu Panda movie, and one of the things that happens is that Po is sort of a lovable loser who ends up in this high-end position. And then, after going through all the movies and some of the series, he's kind of a hotshot. So, I was sort of interested in the first season of kind of knocking him back down, so he has some room to grow, and he loses his title and the respect of people, and needs to kind of get himself back on track.
He does that in the first season, but he also does that with the help of Wandering Blade, who brings in this whole other flavor of attitude and combat and caring about things, and exposing him to some new experiences, and in the second season, taking him to India. So, Po, I've always said, is sort of the lovable loser who can kick butt, but anytime I can get him into a situation where he can do both of those things, where he can be sort of the goofball, fun Jack Black character, and then also do some cool fighting set pieces, that's what I'm excited about.
Speaking of Jack Black, he's almost like a real-life Po. Anytime you see him in anything, he's very animated and lively and brings so much energy to everything. What is his process like in terms of bringing Po to life in the voice booth, and what is that like to see unfold?
Peter Hastings: Well, the first thing I can say is it's a lot of fun! We've had a blast working together for the last almost three years. It does not take much for Jack Black to get into the character of Po, because basically, he is that dude. With Jack and also James Hong, who plays his Dad, Mr. Ping, I don't need to explain stuff to them, so we can explore things and have fun with it. Jack is really into it, we'll do a bunch of takes, and I'll say 'Cool, that's great', and very often, he'll say 'One more, let me do one more!', and he'll 'throw some mustard on it', as he would say, which will be some sort of funny vocalization or improvisation that he adds to it that's just so much that character. So, he doesn't need any big encouragement or egging on to get him to do a great version of Po, and it's super fun.
As showrunner, who have been some of your favorite new characters who have been introduced on the show?
Peter Hastings: Well, we're basically sort of constructing a classic rag-tag band of misfits. Po's great, and Rita Ora, who plays Wandering Blade, has just been fantastic. She really hadn't done any voice acting at the beginning, and she just picked it up so well, and I think a lot of that just has to do with being a singer and a musician and having a good ear. I love the character Rukhmini, played by Rahnuma Panthaky. She's been fantastic, and she's kind of an old, sort of wise-a-- character. We've had a lot of fun with her, and also, Ed Weeks, who plays Colin. These guys continue to have very important roles on the show. Melissa Villaseñor also comes in when we go to Central America, and also Harvey Guillén [as Pelpel].
You mentioned the show partially taking place in India. In the history of martial arts, the lineage of kung fu is traced back to India from Bodhidharma visiting the Shaolin Temple. Is that history something you're really trying to tap into on The Dragon Knight or maybe put a bit of a Kung Fu Panda spin on?
Peter Hastings: Yeah, I think that was part of our research, because there are some who say the earliest version of kung fu was happening in India, and then that martial art became sort of outlawed for a really long time, so it wasn't maintained in India. We brought some of that in, we didn't go into it too much, but with the action sequences and the fight sequences, we're always sort of looking to make them unique and special to the location that they're in, to the props that are around, and all of that kind of stuff.
Also, to go back to your previous question, I'd be remiss in not mentioning how fantastic Della Saba and Chris Geere are as Veruca and Klaus. They're such an integral part of it, and they're so great in how they do their characters.
Are there any discussions happening about where Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight could go in season 3?
Peter Hastings: Yeah, we certainly want to put out a season 3, and we have a storyline that continues. Hopefully, we'll be seeing that soon. Every season, we're trying to make it feel like it's resolved in a satisfactory way, but leaves you wanting more and leaves some questions. So, yeah, we have plans for that.
About Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight Season 2
Pursuit of the villainous weasels Klaus and Veruca and the powerful Tianshiang weapons has Po venture outside of China for the first time with a motley crew of warriors, including the fierce Wandering Blade, the slippery Rukhmini, and loyal Mr. Ping. From a museum heist in India to a volcanic eruption in Central America, the heroes face danger at every turn on their journey to unravel the secrets surrounding Blade’s brother and his connection to the magical weapons.
Check out our previous Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight interview below:
Season 2 of Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight is now streaming on Netflix.