Top-rated Disney Plus show American Born Chinese canceled after one season
Despite a star-studded cast and a host of critical acclaim, Disney has decided not to make a second season of its excellent season American-born Chinese Disney Plus show.
Last Friday (January 5) Variety reported that Disney executives, according to “a person with knowledge of the decision”, loved the action-fantasy comedy series but were unenthusiastic about its ratings. Indeed, American-born Chinesewhich debuted on one of the world's top streaming services in May 2023, didn't draw a large enough audience to merit a second outing.
However, there is potentially good news for fans hoping it will find new life elsewhere. Variety also suggested that his producers were planning to go on a shopping spree American-born Chinese to other streamers and broadcasters in hopes of continuing the series, produced by Destin Daniel Cretton, who Marvel fans will know as the director of the MCU Phase 4 film Shang Chi.
American Born Chinese is a critical hit, if not a commercial one
Based on the coming-of-age graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang, American-born Chinese was a critical hit that – perhaps inevitably – drew comparisons to the 2023 Best Picture Oscar winner Everything everywhere at once for its incredible action scenes, sense of humor and the presence of beloved actor Michelle Yeoh.
At the time, The New York Sun said “although not nearly as coherent or bold as Everything everywhere, American-born Chinese does offer unique images and insight”. Elsewhere, The age added “update the vivid fighting scenes wuxia martial arts movies – imagine Stephen Chow around Kung Fu hustle – and as is often the case, here the welcome ambition usually outweighs the shortcomings in execution.'
ScreenHub for the comparison, he went back to the 1990s and 1970s and said:American-born Chinese is more Buffy the Vampire Slayer than Monkeyprimarily focused on the very mortal concerns of teenagers for whom life's daily ups and downs can seem like a cavalcade of catastrophes to rival any war in heaven.”
The cover told readers that it is “a fun and imaginative look at what it feels like to exist with one foot in two different worlds, whether as the child of immigrants or as the immortal heir of a heavenly dynasty,” while The San Jose Mercury News opined that “the snappy screenplay, sharp observations of what it's like to be an Asian American teen at a predominantly white school, and martial arts action help make this a fast-paced, addictive show with wonderful cameos and supporting performances.”
With little commercial success, American-born Chinese is just the latest in a long line of Disney Plus failures being axed. The Muppets Chaos was the most recent Disney Plus show to be axed, with Disney removing dozens of TV series on Disney Plus and Hulu in May 2023 – ironically just a day earlier American-born Chinese debuted on the service.
The entertainment giant also removed the original film from Disney Plus Crater from its primary platform, less than two months after its own streaming-exclusive debut. Looks like Netflix has some serious competition over who can cancel and/or remove the most internal projects from their streaming services, right?