Summary

• Mike Mitchell addresses the franchise future for the Furious Five after Kung Fu Panda 4.
• Kung Fu Panda 4 prioritized new characters over existing ones, like the Furious Five.
• Mitchell teased a potential Kung Fu Panda Furious Five spinoff in the future.

The future of the Furious Five after Kung Fu Panda 4 is addressed by director Mike Mitchell. The sequel was an incredible success for the franchise, becoming the top grossing animated film of the year so far and one of the higher grossing films overall of 2024. Its story chronicles Po’s journey to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of the Peace, all the while seeking to train a new Dragon Warrior to become his successor.

In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Mitchell speaks about the future of the Furious Five in the franchise. According to the director, there was “so much” that he and his team wanted to put into Kung Fu Panda 4, but it was impossible to do so in a limited run time. They even had “stories with them that just didn’t fit into the film.” Instead of including this dynamic quintet in Kung Fu Panda 4, Mitchell hopes there could be a Furious Five spinoff. Check out the full quote from Mitchell below:

Mitchell: We wanted to put so much into this film, but we knew we couldn't make a four-hour long Oppenheimer Kung Fu Panda. We all love The Furious Five. They're such cool characters, and they're such a part of the franchise, but they have been a big part of the story for part one, two, and three. We thought for this one we might take just a little bit of a break. I mean, we had a bunch of stories with them that just didn't fit into the film.

It's okay to take a break as long as we tell everyone at the end, "Man, they're still a big part of this world and they're not going anywhere." I'm so glad that you recognized that it was important to us to really pull them in and show everyone that we love The Furious Five. I've always thought maybe there's even a spinoff with just the Furious Five.

There's so many characters, they're such rich characters and they have such cool fighting techniques; they work so well together and they're so interesting. Each one is a different character, and there's just tons of story to tell in this world

Did Kung Fu Panda 4 Make the Right Choice by Cutting the Furious Five?

The Furious Five Still Have A Chance To Return

While Mitchell’s reasoning makes sense, Kung Fu Panda 4’s neglect of the Furious Five could have been helped with their inclusion Having more familiar characters to interact with could have elevated the movie. The best moments in the film were arguably the interactions between Po’s two goofy father figures, his adoptive father Mr. Ping (James Hong) and his biological father Li Shan (Bryan Cranston). The endearing dynamic between these two characters seems far more interesting than the action sequences between Po and Zhen, but yet the latter is given more screen time.

Kung Fu Panda 4 also rushes the scene in which the past villains are brought back from the spirit world. The return of Tai Lung and the other antagonists was a highly-emphasized aspect of the Kung Fu Panda 4 trailers and marketing but compose a relatively small amount of screen time in the full film. With the tease of familiar characters, viewers may have been expecting the Furious Five to return. Instead, Kung Fu Panda 4 leans into its exploration of Zhen, likely trying to set up a new phase in the franchise as a new Dragon Warrior is chosen.

Opting not to include the Furious Five may be a case in which Kung Fu Panda 4 sided with snappy action scenes and the development of new characters over existing franchise lore. For audiences who grew up with these films, Kung Fu Panda 4 gives little fan service. Hopefully, Mitchell’s value of the Furious Five can mean that these characters will return in some way, whether that be in a spinoff film, TV series, or in a prospective Kung Fu Panda 5 film.

Kung Fu Panda 4 is available to rent or purchase on VOD.