Not having the Furious Five in Kung Fu Panda 4 was a shame. Made up of Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), Crane (David Cross), and Monkey (Jackie Chan), they were vital to Po's (Jack Black) growth in the first three films.
But they are nowhere to be found in the fourth film's main story. Spoiler alert: They do appear in the credits sequence. However, notably, none of the members speak.
That's because these visual cameos were a last-minute addition to the film. One of the directors of the film, Mike Mitchell, spoke about this in an interview with a Reddit user. They weren't able to get the likes of Jolie, Rogen, and Chan back for the appearance, and that's because of how much it'd cost them. Allegedly, a single line from Jolie would cost $20 million.
This explains how Kung Fu Panda 4 had a budget of just $85 million. That was nearly half of what each of the last three installments cost to make. Instead, Black's Po character was surrounded by the likes of Awkwafina, Viola Davis, and Ke Huy Quan in addition to the returning cast members.
It's unlikely that this will be the last installment in the franchise. After all, it opened to over $57 million domestically, which is the second-highest opening in the franchise's history. We'll see if the Furious Five make a proper return in the future installments.
Kung Fu Panda 4
Kung Fu Panda 4 follows Po in a new era of his career as Dragon Warrior. He learns that he must appoint a successor to the Dragon Warrior mantle. In turn, he will become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace.
He is also tasked with taking on a new villain, the Chameleon (Davis). The shape-shifting villain is posing as members of Po's rogues gallery. Po enlists the help of a new friend, Zhen (Awkwafina), to take on the Chameleon.
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