“Fistful of Vengeance” Netflix Poster
Ever rising action star Iko Uwais (The Raid, The Raid 2, Headshot, Beyond Skyline) will be returning to Netflix with Fistful of Vengeance, a movie “sequel” to 2019’s Wu Assassins, a 10-episode martial arts sci-fi crime drama that’s currently streaming on Netflix.
Wu Assassins revolved around a warrior chosen as the latest and last Wu Assassin, who must search for the powers of an ancient triad and restore balance in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Now, the official premise for Fistful of Vengeance reads: A revenge mission becomes a fight to save the world from an ancient threat when superpowered assassin Kai tracks a killer to Bangkok (via AF).
Returning stars from Wu Assassins include Lewis Tan (Into the Badlands), Lawrence Kao (Lucky Fifty), and JuJu Chan (Savage Dog, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny). New cast additions for Fistful of Vengeance include Pearl Thusi (The Scorpion King: Book of Souls), Francesca Corney (Zoners), Jason Tobin (Warrior), and Rhatha Phongam (Only God Forgives).
Directing Fistful of Vengeance is Roel Reiné (Hard Target 2), who also helmed two episodes from the series; other episodes in the 2019 series were directed by Stephen Fung (The Adventurers), Toa Fraser (6 Days), Michael Nankin (Hell on Wheels) and Katheryn Winnick (Vikings).
Look for Wu Fistful of Vengeance on Netflix on February 17, 2022. Don’t miss the Trailer below:
I wonder what character they’ll make Iko Uwais play. He looks nothing like Chinese afterall.
And “crime series with supernatural elements” sounds kind of cheesy. Can you imagine The Raid with characters shooting fireballs out their ass, or if they were fighting over some magical item? I tend to prefer crime series to stay free from supernatural fantasy.
“I tend to prefer crime series to stay free from supernatural fantasy.” I was thinking the same thing.
I don’t have a problem with this whatsoever. For instance:
1. It’s on Netflix, more eyes will be on Iko Uwais and will know why he is a special talent
2. It’s in Netflix. People will watch any crap!!!
3. It’s a 10 eps mini series with Iko freaking Uwais.
4. No Mark Whalberg to be found.
Netflix is already the new VOD. That’s fine and all. But if you’re going to use him then use him right. I haven’t seen this show, so who knows what they come out with. But I for one would like to see a rare and great talent used in great films, resulting in something special. Iko’s resume post-The Raid has been mostly VOD and D2DVD caliber stuff.
Mile 22 will have already gotten him that worldwide recognition, but that’s a Wahlberg film so we know it’s going to be whatever. I’m not worried about the publicity Iko receives. I’m more concerned with seeing him utilized in actual “good” movies, like The Raid 1 & 2 were. They’ve cast him in some Taxi comedy next to Bautista and comedian Kumail Nanjani, according to reports a couple months ago. They’ve turned Iko Uwais into their go-to Asian action guy, but that doesn’t mean the movies are any good. I bet this series occupies his schedule for a good couple months. If it’s a hit, then it’ll happen again the year after. Any random martial-artist could pull off the roles they’re giving him.
Imagine taking Michael Jackson and making him write McDonalds jingles and performing at birthday parties? It’s a waste of talent. Do you see Keanu Reeves doing this shit? Iko Uwais should be seen as a Keanu or Bruce Lee. I want to see him properly utilized.
It’s a process to get to the top in Hollywood. If I were him, I’d also be taking these projects hoping that they open other doors for me in the future.
I’m curious to see what Wu Assassins will be like, and I’m sure he’s going to steal the show in Mile 22.
Hollywood isn’t the be-all and end-all. Hollywood also has a horrible track record in how they handle Asian men.
Iko will never be a Hollywood mainstay, he’s the flavor of the moment. There’s actors far bigger than Iko Uwais who work on indy productions which are serious but well-written films.
I’d just like to see him churn out a few more martial-arts masterpieces before he burns out or “settles”. Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Bao all have great films under their belt alongside the mediocre stuff, and they exclusively make mediocre films now.
There’s something called someone’s “prime years” in athletics. Iko Uwais is 35 years old. If he doesn’t put his prime years to work between now and the next five years, then don’t expect him to 5 years later when it’ll only go downhill. Just remember that Merantau, TR1 and TR2 were shot 10, 8 and 5 years ago, respectively.
Of course it’s not the “be all end all.” But he’s got an opportunity and is making the most of it. He’d be a fool not to.
Hollywood is constantly changing, and years ago Uwai would have just been a henchmen in a Wahlberg film. It’s a big difference that he’s co-lead.
Everyone is a flavor of the moment in Hollywood. They all have different shelf lives.
There’s no evidence that Iko Uwai will never star in something as good as the Raid films. He’s still got time to do more good films. Even when he’s 50, I’m sure he’ll still be great.
It comes down to picking good scripts. Hollywood has never been the go-to place for martial-arts films to begin with; historically that was Hong Kong. I don’t see Hollywood suddenly doing a 180 now of all things.
“There’s no evidence that Iko Uwai will never star in something as good as the Raid films”–There’s no evidence he’s starring in anything close to it NOW or in the immediate future either. That’s my complaint.
“Even when he’s 50, I’m sure he’ll still be great.”– If he’s still getting work at 50, it will be making the same subpar stuff that JCVD and Seagal make, or more likely mediocre flicks in the domestic Indonesian market. No way will he be doing the same stunts and choreography he did at 25 and 30. He’s 35 now, I’m predicting until 41 to be his prime years. This is my concern. It’s like watching a great boxer wasting his years in a contract dispute and never becoming world champion by the time it’s done–we’re all left debating “what ifs”.
If you or Iko thinks picking whatever script Hollywood throws at him is a way “to get to the top in Hollywood” then I for one am sad to see the loss of a great talent. You’ve missed the boat; Hollywood won’t be the one making anything that combines a serious story with serious martial-arts….one which doesn’t involve forcing a white hero or feminist heroine and bad VFX down our throats.
“Oh no! Feminist heroines are being forced down our throats!”
Give me a break. That derailed the whole argument.
What argument?
You’re not even making sense now. I was never arguing against you to begin with. If you’re enjoying Iko’s current projects then by God congratulations. I’ve been stating my own nature of enjoyment or lack thereof this whole time. So why shouldn’t I mention what I do and don’t like?
“Derailed?” Give me a f**king break. It’s only derailed if that’s the only thing you took from my post. But I repeat, this was never about you or what you care about, my posts are about what ‘I’ care about. All my points are about what ‘I’ expect from Hollywood, and would ‘like to see’ from Iko Uwais. You can continue to enjoy what you enjoy. There is no “argument” here.
He’s probably making more off of Netflix episode than both Raid films combined.
I’m sure he is making more money. Which is why I noted the point about serious big-time actors who do indy projects which are still serious and well-written films (not merely D2DVD) alongside the mainstream big-budget stuff. The actors who play Harry Potter and Frodo, respectively, have gone the same route.
It comes down to picking scripts. Gareth Evans was a great director, but if Iko Uwais doesn’t take a pick at good scripts then who the director is is completely irrelevant.
It’s possible to juggle both worlds: Hollywood and Asian action cinema.
It may be an issue of mentality, which I really hope isn’t the case with Iko where he’s presuming Hollywood is the be-all and end-all, given where he’s from where Indonesian action cinema was only notable in the 80s and The Raid essentially resurrected Indonesian action single-handedly.
I sorta kinda hear ya. The majority of stuff on Netflix is average/below average. But there have been a number of shows/TVs/movies that are better than a lot of things out in theaters. It’s a big fat hit or miss, really. Same can be said about any frequency. I just don’t think he’ll ever be utilized the way someone like Gareth Evans utilizes him.
“4. No Mark Whalberg to be found.” lol
This is shaping up to be something pretty cool.
I like everything else, but I’m disappointed that Iko and Mark are technically playing the same character. I was hoping they would have a fight scene. (Maybe there can be a mystical explanation for how they fight eventually.)
As i predicted ages ago and came out to be true: Mile 22 was crap. Stuber was crap.
Wu Assassins will be crap.
Iko will be chewed and spit out…unless he comes to his senses soon.
I’m 3 episodes into Wu Assassins, and it’s quite good so far. Iko has great chemistry with the cast and Byron Mann is clearly enjoying his role as a villain despite being subtle in his performance.
The fights are pretty nice stuff too. I was worried at first since I didn’t think they’d have movie luxuries, but the action is on par with Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Into the Badlands.
I hope the show succeeds and goes beyond the niche audience.
Looking at the trailer, I didn’t even know it was a movie spin-off of Wu Assassins. Either way, it looks horrendous. The choreo is slow as sh-t, the dialog seems pretty bad, and even the audio engineering seems pretty bad.
All my fears the past half decade have come out to be true. Iko Uwais pissed his career away for a bunch of modern-day equivalent of B movies…really bad B movies.
Anyways, I’d love to see Gareth Evans utilize Oka Antara for a gritty “heroic bloodshed” film. He was great in The Raid 2. Sad that he never went anywhere after that. Did some mediocre police series in Indonesia afterwards and then kinda disappeared from the genre. Gareth Evans needs to come back and save these poor souls.
“Iko Uwais pissed his career away for a bunch of modern-day equivalent of B movies…really bad B movies.”
I don’t think he’s pissed away his career so much as he’s said yes to the roles he’s been offered. It just so happens that most of the roles have only utilised a fraction of the talent that we saw in ‘Merantau’ and ‘The Raid’ movies, and that’s because he was working with a director who had a vision for portraying silat onscreen. Just like martial arts flicks were only the flavour of the month for a short time in Thailand in the early 00’s, so the same can be said for Indonesia now. If you’re not going to get decent work on home soil and Hollywood comes calling, the choice is a no-brainer.