"Kung Fu Panda 3" has just been confirmed and it will still feature Jack Black as Po. J.K. Simmons will also join the cast as the villain Kai.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, co-director Jennifer Yuh Nelson revealed why Kai will become the film's most important villain to date.
"He's somebody that's beyond Tai Lund, beyond Shen. He's a villain that Po is completely ill-equipped to face," she said.
In "Kung Fu Panda" and "Kung Fu Panda 2," Tai Lung (Ian McShane) was the leopard that eventually turned his back on Po and Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) after he was not named as the Dragon Warrior. Shen (Gary Oldman), meanwhile, was a peacock that was known for slaughtering pandas by the masses.
In a separate interview with the USA Today, Nelson explained why she decided to focus on the concept of the supernatural in the upcoming sequel.
"I drew a little chart that had a picture of this new villain coming in and it was like, 'You can't go smarter because Shen was smarter.' So where can you go? You have to go supernatural, bigger, and even more intimidating," she said.
In the film, Kai will go head-to-head with Po, Master Shifu and the furious warriors, namely, Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu), Crane (David Cross) and Mantis (Seth Rogen).
"That dynamic of a new villain, new energy, and new abilities that challenge Po is what makes it interesting for us - and makes for some cool fight scenes. J.K. brings humor to a really intimidating bad guy, so we can go really intimidating with him and not scare the kids out of the theater," Nelson added.
"Kung Fu Panda 3" will also hear the voices of the returning cast: Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, David Cross and Seth Rogen. The film is slated to hit theaters in the United States on Jan. 29, 2016.
