“Monkey King: Hero Is Back” Returns with Sequel “Monkey King: Rise”, Scheduled for July 10

On March 27, the domestic animated film “Monkey King: Rise” officially announced its release date, which is set to hit theaters nationwide on July 10, 2026. Along with the announcement, the first official trailer and five character posters were released simultaneously, making it the first animated film to be scheduled for this year’s summer season. Produced by Sky City Pictures, the main producer of “Monkey King: Hero Is Back”, the film continues the legend of the “Monkey King” IP after 11 years, attracting widespread attention from the industry and audiences. People’s Daily also posted an article to promote it, stating that it continues the glory of Chinese animation with creative craftsmanship and showcases the charm of an animated hero IP unique to the Chinese people.

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As a work crafted by Sky City Pictures over 11 years, “Monkey King: Rise” is not a direct continuation of the plot of “Monkey King: Hero Is Back”. Instead, it takes “Journey to the West” as the background and explores the hidden narrative context behind the pilgrimage to the West. The film focuses on the story of the Monkey King, who leaves Lingshan after becoming a Buddha. It tells that 500 years after wreaking havoc in Heaven, Sun Wukong agrees to the Buddha’s request to escort a monk to the West to fetch scriptures, but this decision arouses the confusion and obstruction of his clansmen. At the same time, the Demon King Bo Xun descends, opening the hidden world behind Journey to the West, and a trial about the choice between Buddha and Demon begins.

In the official trailer, the line “The skin of a hero is meant to be broken” runs through, which not only echoes the growth arc of the Monkey King but also fills the film with a sense of suspense, hiding clues to the core theme. It is reported that the film presents three highly subversive key plot clues, each pointing directly to the hidden truth of Journey to the West: the unexpected resurrection of the Six-Eared Macaque, the mystery of the Monkey King’s own “rebirth”, and the grand appearance of the Demon King Bo Xun from Buddhist classics — this opponent, who is set to be “too powerful even for Tathagata Buddha”, is inherently tempting and trial-like, disrupting the original order of Journey to the West as soon as he appears. The Monkey King’s murmured words full of confusion and remorse in the trailer, “I must be really sick, otherwise how could I bear to kill the Six-Eared Macaque?”, lay two fatal suspense: Is the resurrected one the Six-Eared Macaque or the Monkey King himself? Who exactly accompanied Tang Monk on the pilgrimage to the West back then? These suspense completely subvert the audience’s inherent perception of the Journey to the West story, successfully transforming the film from the passionate style of “Monkey King: Hero Is Back” to a more tense suspenseful style, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.

In terms of the character lineup, the five character posters released by the official for the first time reveal the core cast. In addition to the familiar Monkey King and the Six-Eared Macaque, three new faces from Journey to the West are added: the Resurrector Amo, the Temple Keeper Bifang, and the Demon King Bo Xun. The posters present the characters with alternating light and dark imagery, implying the complex fate behind their identities and hiding more clues — Is the Resurrector Amo related to the resurrection of the Monkey King and the Six-Eared Macaque? What hidden secrets of Journey to the West does the Temple Keeper Bifang hold? What is the ultimate purpose of the Demon King Bo Xun? It is worth mentioning that “Monkey King: Rise” was previously titled “The Four Monkeys of Havoc”, whose setting is derived from the Four Monkeys of Havoc in “Journey to the West” — Sun Wukong the Monkey King, the Six-Eared Macaque, the Red Buttock Horse Monkey, and the Tongbi Ape Monkey. The first trailer may contain clues about the other two monkeys, which adds more suspense to the film. The film party revealed that it will further develop a series of prequels and sequels to unlock the hidden universe of Journey to the West.

Visually, the film continues the path of Chinese-style aesthetics, integrating the Chinese mythological system with contemporary animation technology. It presents an overall dark style, which is in sharp contrast to the brighter tone of “Monkey King: Hero Is Back” and is somewhat similar to “Black Myth: Wukong”, combining Chinese-style heritage with visual impact. Written by Bai Ding and supervised by Wang Chuan, some of the main creative personnel have participated in the production of “Monkey King: Hero Is Back”, continuing the core style of “hardcore Chinese style + passionate growth”. At the same time, it deepens the complexity of the characters and the layering of the plot with the core concepts of “A coin has two sides, and the truth is not unique” and “Buddha and Demon are just a thought apart”.

When it comes to the “Monkey King” IP, we have to look back at the phenomenal work “Monkey King: Hero Is Back” in 2015. Created by Tian Xiaopeng and the October Culture team, the film grossed nearly 1 billion yuan at the summer box office, setting a new record for domestic animated films at that time and igniting the audience’s hope for the rise of Chinese animation. As the main producer of the film, Sky City Pictures has been deeply engaged in the field of original films in recent years, launching high-quality works such as “Himalayan Ladder” and “Kailash”. This time, “Monkey King: Rise” chooses the same summer release date of July 10 as “Monkey King: Hero Is Back” and uses similar character images, which is inevitably regarded by the audience as a sequel.

However, there is an obvious difference between the core creative teams of the two films: “Monkey King: Rise” is led by a new team formed by Wang Chuan, the director of the “Kuiba” series, while Tian Xiaopeng, the core creator of “Monkey King: Hero Is Back”, and his team are currently preparing another Monkey King series work, “Monkey King: Havoc in Heaven”. It is reported that the copyright of “Monkey King: Hero Is Back” is owned by Sky City Pictures, which allows “Monkey King: Rise” to continue the character images of the previous work. Due to the lack of copyright, Tian Xiaopeng’s team can only create a new Monkey King image, which must be completely separated from the original version to be released normally.

This situation has also triggered industry discussions on the “gold content of IP sequels”: with the separation between the copyright-holding producer and the core creative team, what exactly constitutes a real sequel? “Monkey King: Havoc in Heaven”, prepared by Tian Xiaopeng’s team, focuses on Sun Wukong’s experiences before the pilgrimage to the West, starting from his time as a stone monkey in Huaguo Mountain, to his recruitment by the Heavenly Court, then to his rebellion due to being ignored and despised, and finally being suppressed under the Five-Finger Mountain. This segment has been mostly glossed over in previous Journey to the West IP works, but “Monkey King: Havoc in Heaven” takes it as the main line and is highly anticipated due to the creative strength of the original team; while “Monkey King: Rise”, although it uses the IP image and release date of the previous work, has been questioned by some audiences for “riding on the popularity of the previous work” due to the change of the main creative team.

As a work designed, original, and produced in Shenzhen, “Monkey King: Rise” is not only an innovative expression of excellent traditional Chinese culture but also a reflection of Shenzhen’s cultural innovation and creation capabilities. Industry insiders said that whether it is “Monkey King: Rise” or “Monkey King: Havoc in Heaven”, the core factor determining their market recognition is the quality of the work — if “Monkey King: Rise” can break the “copycat” suspicion with a solid plot and continue the craftsmanship of Chinese animation with innovative expressions, it may continue the glory of the “Monkey King” IP; while “Monkey King: Havoc in Heaven”, if it can adhere to the original creative core, is expected to become a new benchmark for Chinese animation even with a new character image.

The announcement of “Monkey King: Rise” is not only the return of the “Monkey King” IP but also reflects the living status of high-quality Chinese animation IPs — the game between capital and creation, and the dispute over copyright ownership are still obstacles that need to be crossed on the road to the rise of Chinese animation. It is reported that the film will continue to release more plot details in the future, and it is expected to trigger a new round of upsurge in Chinese animation during the summer season. The competition between the two “Monkey King” themed works will also become a major highlight of the Chinese animation industry this year.