Warrior producers on their way to Max and how they landed Mark Dacascos

The third season of Max’s suspenseful martial arts drama warrior premieres this week and there’s an exciting new face in the cast: martial arts movie (and iron cook) Legend Mark Dacascos. Dacascos stars as Kong Pak, the charismatic leader of a rival Tong who is absorbed by the powerful Long Zii.

warrior There’s no shortage of talented martial artists in the cast, from hard-working star Andrew Koji to former Indonesian judo team athlete Joe Taslim (whose skills also feature in ). The night comes for us And The attack). But Dacascos adds another dimension as an exceptionally talented martial artist who also brings a loveable, easy-going energy to every role.

“When we put somebody as an opponent for one of these guys, they can’t just act,” says co-creator and executive producer Jonathan Tropper. “You also have to be believable as an antagonist to these guys.

“We want people who we know can keep up and maintain the extremely high level of martial arts action that we feature on the show.”

Dacascos seems like an obvious choice but his appointment was a happy accident.

Photo: David Bloomer/Max

“I didn’t believe for a minute that we could get Mark Dacascos,” says Tropper. “Fortunately, Dustin [Nguyen, an actor and director on Warrior] did a movie with him in the off-season and said, ‘He loves the show, you should call him,’ and boom!”

This movie was Blade of the 47 Ronina direct Netflix sequel to the 2013 Keanu Reeves film 47 Ronins. Directed by veteran stunt pro, actor and martial artist Ron Yuan, it stars YouTuber Anna Akana and rising martial arts star Mike Moh alongside Dacascos and Nguyen.

While it flew under the radar upon release, Blade of the 47 Ronin was praised by the people I follow in the action movie community, and they were right: It’s light, entertaining action fare with balletic swordplay, a charismatic cast, and a nice twist on the unconventional Ascended narrative. It felt right in line with warriorwhich shares a mushy action atmosphere (albeit in a very different time period), its own “chosen ones” narrative, and of course, several members of the greats Blade of the 47 Ronin Cast, now also Dacascos.

Image: Universal 1440 Entertainment

The addition of Dacascos isn’t the only big change for them warrior this season as the show is finally moving from Cinemax to Max. In January 2020, Cinemax announced it would stop producing original content, which seemed to spell the end of the road warrior, even when the show’s first two seasons were added to Max. But then Max announced that he would continue with the show’s third season, which would bring new opportunities — and obstacles — for the crew.

“It was a unique challenge because we kind of lost our sets, costumes and props,” says executive producer Evan Endicott, who has been promoted to co-showrunner for season three. “And we kind of had to do another Season 1 again, but with more ambition, more scope, more everything. But they really supported us. I think they are real fans of the show. And that made our life a lot easier.”

“They constantly encouraged us to try to push the boundaries, to get bigger and bolder,” says executive producer Josh Stoddard, who has been promoted to co-showrunner with Endicott. “I think we all had to sleep about three months after our work.”

Both are one energy warrior And Blade of the 47 Ronin Share – You make the most of the limited resources you have to prioritize exciting, readable actions with charismatic, attractive people. In both projects you can feel the passion and commitment on screen, but also how much fun it must have been making retro genre fare for a modern audience.

This modern audience has a better chance of catching it warrior Since the first two seasons were added to HBO Max in January 2021. With season three arriving around the same time as the platform’s rebranding as Max, producers are hoping the show can capitalize on that momentum and reach even more people.

“We’re already noticing a much larger audience,” says Tropper. “We already know that we are reaching many more people than before. And the hope is that this will give the show a much larger following, which will allow us to do more seasons.”

For now, fans will have to be content with the first three seasons of warriorand hope, along with Tropper, that a fourth will get the green light from the new network. warrior Season 3 premiered on Max on June 29 with three new episodes. Blade of the 47 Ronin can be watched on Netflix.