The CW’s freshman series Kung Fu is coming back for another season.
The network announced on Monday that it has renewed Kung Fu for season 2, along with DC’s Stargirl for season 3.
“We are beyond proud to continue to share the stories of Nicky Shen and Courtney Whitmore, two strong, powerful young women at the center of this new generation of hit shows for The CW in Kung Fu and DC’s Stargirl, said Mark Pedowitz, chairman and CEO of The CW Network, in a statement. “While each boasts remarkable talent on both sides of the camera, Kung Fu and DC’s Stargirl have not only treated fans to some visually stunning action and high-flying heroics, but they also both strike very powerful emotional chords as they delve into the family dynamics and personal relationships at their core, and we are so excited to see what happens next.”
The renewal announcement for Kung Fu is expected, as the martial arts drama kicked off strong with more than 3.5 million viewers watching its premiere. The show’s first episode also had the highest total viewership number for a Wednesday debut in seven years since The 100 launched back in 2014.
A modern-day reimagining of Ed Spielman’s 1970s series of the same name, Kung Fu follows Nicky Shen (Olivia Liang), a young Chinese American woman whose quarter-life crisis forces her to leave college and make a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. Upon her return to San Francisco three years later, she finds her hometown is overrun with crime and corruption and her own parents Jin (Tzi Ma) and Mei-Li (Kheng Hua Tan) are at the mercy of a powerful Triad.
With the help of her tech-savvy sister Althea (Shannon Dang) and Althea’s fiancé Dennis (Tony Chung), pre-med brother Ryan (Jon Prasida), assistant district attorney and ex-boyfriend Evan (Gavin Stenhouse), and new love interest Henry (Eddie Liu), Nicky uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice, all while searching for the ruthless assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor Pei-Ling (Vanessa Kai) and is now targeting her.
Produced by Berlanti Productions and Quinn’s House in association with Warner Bros. Television, Kung Fu is showrun by Robert Berens and Christina M. Kim, who wrote the pilot. Berens and Kim also executive produce the series with Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Martin Gero, and David Madden.
Kung Fu airs every Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.