Yesterday, news broke that Donnie Yen would be joining the on-screen talent of Disney’s upcoming live-action version of Mulan. Now it’s come out that he’ll be joined by two other superstars: Gong Li and Jet Li will be playing, respectively, a new villain and a powerful ruler.
Left to right: Gong Li and Jet Li will be part of Disney’s live-action Mulan. Photo: Thibault Camus (AP Photo), Dita Alangkara (AP Photo)
News of the castings comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which says that Jet Li is in final talks to play the Emperor of China (originally played by Pat Morita in the 1998 animated version). It will mark his first major role in a major Hollywood production since being part of The Expendables 3. The piece also gives details about Gong Li’s antagonist, describing her as “a powerful witch”. This character wasn’t in the animated version, a sign that the upcoming Niki Caro-directed film will be diverging from it at least a little bit.
Mulan’s sister will be another new character being introduced in the film, and she’ll be played by Xana Tang, a New Zealand actress of Chinese and Vietnamese descent. Mulan, starring Liu Yifei in the title role, is scheduled to hit screens in March 2020.