The Real Reason Disney+ Canceled Michelle Yeoh's American Born Chinese

The streaming bubble has burst, and we're now seeing the industry reckon with it. Every major streamer has shifted gears, going from over-expanding and green-lighting the unlikeliest of shows and movies (all the while giving them ludicrously high budgets) to canceling project after project almost arbitrarily. Not only that, but many of these canceled titles are then removed from their original platform and made virtually inaccessible, like in the case of the "Willow" TV show.

While it is still available to watch on Disney+, the short-lived "American Born Chinese" is another series that was unceremoniously canceled by the streamer before getting a chance to find its audience. The series boast an impressive 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes and an even more impressive cast that includes "New Police Story" star Daniel Wu, as well as "Everything Everywhere All At Once" actor Stephanie Hsu and her Oscar-winning co-stars Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh. Still, that wasn't enough to save the show from the cancellation axe.

Adapted from Gene Luen Yang's 2006 graphic novel of the same name, "American Born Chinese" is a live-action fantasy/action series that also stars the likes of Ben Wang and Jimmy Luis. Its story centers on a teenager who's already dealing with normal high school problems when they're tasked with showing a new student around — not knowing that the new kid is actually the son of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King. Before they know it, the pair find themselves inadvertently entangled in a battle of mythological gods, all the while having to also navigate the battlefield that is being a teenager.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, viewers simply didn't connect with "American Born Chinese" in large enough numbers, even as Disney tried to expose the show to different audiences by also showing it on Hulu, Roku, YouTube, and even ABC in addition to Disney+. Curiously, though, Disney didn't seem to make anywhere near as much effort to actually promote the series and give people a reason to check it out beyond "Because it's there."

As I wrote in my "American Born Chinese" review (following its premiere at SXSW 2023), the series is "a great blend of a Disney Channel teen comedy and Marvel action, but with better visuals and more heart than most of the MCU's recent output." Much like the marvelous Disney Channel-inspired "Ms. Marvel," what makes the show special is the way the larger-than-life, superhero-esque action blends with smaller, grounded stories of being a second-generation immigrant. You get spectacular wuxia action featuring iconic characters from Chinese mythology like Sun Wukong and the Bull Demon, yet they fight in bowling alleys or a school fair (even as the show's leads deal with bullies, annoying teachers, and popular girls).

It's a shame the series will not continue, especially since "American Born Chinese" ends on a huge cliffhanger. Alas, such is the way of streaming nowadays, a time when shows get absurdly high budgets yet, if they aren't huge hits from the very start, they never get the chance to cultivate an audience.