With Breaking Bad in the ground and The Walking Dead still going strong, AMC is turning to the martial arts genre in hopes of finding its next record-breaking series. Into the Badlands, arriving on the network this fall, is an insane-looking samurai Western, complete with vicious sword fights, motorcycle-riding loners and a truly epic scope.
Into the Badlands takes place in a future America ruled by seven powerful leaders, each with a full army at their disposal. Daniel Wu stars as a warrior who roams the nation on a quest for enlightenment, accompanied by a young boy (Aramis Knight). Their travels bring them up against all kinds of fearsome adversaries in a nation that has returned to the feudalism of ancient Asia.
Marton Csokas, Emily Beecham, Sarah Bolger and Orla Brady also star. Loosely based on the Chinese tale “Journey to the West,” the series is exec produced by co-creators Al Gough and Miles Millar, along with Stacey Sher, Michael Shamberg, Stephen Fung, Wu and David Dobkin (who helmed the pilot).
AMC has ordered a six-episode first season of Into the Badlands, which will arrive on the network in November.