Netflix Orders Martial Arts Series ‘Wu Assassins’ With ‘The Raid’ Star Iko Uwais

June 30, 2018

Netflix just ordered a sci-fi martial arts crime series called Wu Assassins starring The Raid‘s Iko Uwais, and if that string of words isn’t enough to get you excited, you might want to check your pulse.

One of the best action films of the last decade is The Raid, starring Iko Uwais as a man who kicks and punches the hell out of a lot of people in a high-rise building. Uwais will next be seen in Wu Assassins, a new action series from streaming behemoth Netflix. The show comes from writer John Wirth (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles; Falling Skies), with Stephen Fung helming the first two episodes. Here’s how Netflix describes the series:

WU ASSASSINS is an action-packed crime drama set In San Francisco’s Chinatown. The series stars Iko Uwais as 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 mix of sci-fi, action, drama and cooking (he’s an aspiring chef, after all) makes this sound incredible. On top of all this, Uwais will also serve as lead martial arts and fight choreographer and stunt coordinator for the show (as well as producer), so expect an extreme amount of ass-kicking. When asked by RogerEbert.com “how do you as an actor maintain a real sense of danger in your character even when you as a fight choreographer know there isn’t any?”, Uwais said:

“It’s choreographed but also mixed with improv when needed. It’s all locked-down and pre-designed and I know from the beginning to the end where the punches are coming from but having to remember that just because you know the choreography don’t move your body already [in anticipation]. Feed off it. If we’re facing off against each other, if you swing and then I block, I would look for the next strike and it’s that little look that will tell the audience that you’re anticipating it but you don’t know where it’s coming from until he swings. That’s a part of the process—put those little looks in and gestures that give the audience the perception that it is all spontaneous and a reflex instead of something that’s programmed.”

In addition to Uwais, Wu Assassins will also star Byron Mann, who recently appeared in Netflix’s Altered Carbon. More cast members will be announced at a later date. Production on the 10-episode series is set to start in August.

Uwais will next be seen beating people up in Mile 22, opening August 17, 2018.

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