Lewis Tan, Katheryn Winnick join Netflix’s Wu Assassins
David Farnor | On 23, Jul 2018
Katheryn Winnick and Lewis Tan have joined the cast of Netflix’s Wu Assassins.
The streaming giant’s crime drama, set in San Francisco’s Chinatown, follows Kai Jin, an aspiring chef who becomes the latest and last Wu Assassin, chosen to round up the powers of an ancient triad and restore balance once again.
The show is written and exec-produced by John Wirth (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), with fellow EPs including Chad Oakes (Fargo; Hell on Wheels), Mike Frislev (Fargo, Hell on Wheels) and Tony Krantz of Flame Ventures (24).
The project, directed by Stephen Fung, is one of the few martial arts series in modern TV, alongside Iron Fist and Into the Badlands. Indeed, Iron Fist came under fire in its first season for casting a white lead in a genre that is underrepresented on screen. Lewis Tan, who has also appeared in Into the Badlands, stoke the show in the first season of Netflix’s superhero series, so it is little surprise, perhaps, that Tan should be one of the first names to join the project. He has been cast alongside Winnick, who has repeatedly been the best thing in the long-running History drama Vikings.
Winnick will play Christine Gavin, an undercover cop caught in the middle of a gang war that’s breaking out in Chinatown, while Tan will play Lu Xin Lee, a leader who owns his own custom garage and runs a grand theft auto ring for the Triad.
Sons of Anarchy‘s Tommy Flanagan, and Meditation Park’s Tzi Ma have also been cast as Alec McCullough, an international crime boss, and Mr. Young, a Chinatown grocer and a mentor to Kai.
Kai, meanwhile, is being played one of the biggest martial arts names around: Iko Uwais, who will also serve as producer, lead martial arts and fight choreographer and stunt co-ordinator.
Iko Uwais to star in Netflix’s Wu Assassins
30th June 2018
Iko Uwais is headed to Netflix for a new action series, Wu Assassins.
The sci-fi crime drama, set in San Francisco’s Chinatown, follows Kai Jin, an aspiring chef who becomes the latest and last Wu Assassin, chosen to round up the powers of an ancient triad and restore balance once again.
The show is written and exec-produced by John Wirth (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), with fellow EPs including Chad Oakes (Fargo; Hell on Wheels), Mike Frislev (Fargo, Hell on Wheels) and Tony Krantz of Flame Ventures (24). Stephen Fung will direct the first two episodes.
In front of the camera, meanwhile, Netflix has nabbed one of the biggest martial arts names around. Iko Uwais, the sensational star of The Raid, will play Kai, and will also serve as producer, lead martial arts and fight choreographer and stunt co-ordinator for the programme. He will be joined by Byron Mann (Altered Carbon) as Uncle Six.
Netflix has ordered 10 episodes from producers Nomadic Pictures Entertainment, and with Uwais on board, you can guarantee each hour to be stuffed with bone-crunching action.