Kung Fu Panda 4, Chameleon Rewrite. · 3:22am April 22nd
Hey guys hope your having a nice day so far! I've figured out how i could rewrite the Chameleon for KFP 4 when i get to it eventually, i think what i have for her is far better then what the movie could've done. This will also show you what i have planned for my KFP story, and i hope you like what I have in store for it, hope you like this and let me know what you think!
Alright, let's start things off, i think we all agree that the Chameleon's backstory was incredibly stupid and felt like it was added in last minute, Kung fu panda is a franchise known for having some of the coolest villains in animation, Tai Lung, Chen, and Kai. These guys all pose as serious threats throughout they're movies, and make the person watching know that they need to be taken down, they all had they're great motivation and backstory, even if Kai was the weakest with his backstory and motivation, he still posed as a strong threat and was needing to be defeated, and had the coolest theme song in the trilogy. All these villains had something to do with Po and his journey of understanding who he is, Tai Lung represented him in physical form, Chen for his mental form, and Kai for his spiritual form. They all had a key part to play in Po's path with becoming the Dragon Warrior, there's a reason why they are considered the best villains in Dreamworks, next to people like Death and Fairy Godmother from the Shrek franchise, they all did so much with the story and helped develop the movies themes and messages in a brilliant way.
But when we jump to KFP 4, it feels like they had completely added in all those things at the last minute, and i don't blame the writers for this, if those rumors of Mike Mitchel prioritizing comedy instead of heartfelt moments is true, as well as the other stupid things he was wanting to do, then it shows why the movie was barely as good as the original trilogy, KFP is not a series that's just about comedy, it's about heart, discovering who you are, and what your purpose in life is, overcoming trauma and focusing on what makes you who you are now, It's a reason why i do not want Mitchel to return to the franchise ever again, i hope whoever directs the next movies go back to the first 2 movies and help save what he nearly ruined.
One of the major things he messed up was the villain obviously, the Chameleon. Don't get me wrong, i like her well enough in the 4th movie, i thought her powers were cool and she was pretty cool as a villain for the film, but she was so lame in many other ways, like how she got defeated with 2 hits from Po's staff after they could use it, and the fact that she barely had 30 minutes of screen time in 1 hour and 20 minute movie, i know it's because of the runtime, but she's barely seen as much of a threat within the movie itself and the most confusing thing she does in the movie, was push a random dude down the stairs, and i was like.. really? She had the potential to be the deadliest villain in the franchise if done right, but she wasn't.
You see, as we all know by now, the Chameleon's motivation is the stupidest thing i've ever seen, the reason she was doing what she did was because she was and i quote" Too small" To learn Kung fu... Did Mike Mitchel even watch the last 3 movies?! It's like he completely ignored the most important aspect of the movies, the villains are what help make the movies so great! Not only does this completely ignore the themes of the previous movies, but it makes her such a pitiful villain that it honestly reminds me of Alt dimension Doofenshmirtz, who became evil after he lost a toy train. It's a stupid reason that makes her look pathetic, and it lessens the impact of her being a threatening villain knowing this is the reason why. And on top of the fact she was taken down so easily made her look weak, and like she was a villain from Legends of Awesomeness, but even that show had villains better then her with they're motivations and backstory.
There's a snake villain named Fuxi in the show, who one of my favorites in the show because he was once a legendary hero who protected his home, he only had venom that could give the people he injects it with huge fear, and he didn't harm anyone, but he was driven to be evil and had sworn revenge after the very people he protected drove against him out of fear, and they not only killed his family in the flashback, but it broke his view on the people he was born to protect, it's a tragic story that easily could fit in with the rest of the series, and I can only imagine what a feature film could do to make him more.
To sum this up shortly, the Chameleon got the short end of the stick, she wasn't able to be threatening enough for the film, had a backstory that would make Mantis laugh so hard it would last all day, and she didn't much of a chance to prove herself as a worthy villain in the franchise. I do not blame the writers for this, even if it was years since they wrote a KFP panda movie, i'm sure with proper direction, the Chameleon could've been great, but that's not what we got because comedy is more important then heartfelt storytelling and good character moments.
But now that that's over, let's start with how I plan to fix her for my KFP story, let's start with the introduction, i think one of the best things i could do to make her a threat, is having Zhen steal Oogway's staff at the start of the film, who is now voiced by Tara Strong because i feel like she suits Zhen's character way better.
This is removing a plot device that could've solved the problems in the movie easily, and her acquiring it far earlier. She uses a special spell to bypass the Staff's ability's and it allows her to use it at her own free will. And the movie will show her summoning Tai Lung from the Spirit Realm, and like before, we get an extended fight scene of Tai Lung taking down every last one of her men, before she takes him on herself. But unlike before, the Chameleon uses the sorcery spells she's learned to outsmart him, and when Tai Lung is weakened, she takes the skills and his own form to finish him off, which not only establishes her as a threat at the start of the movie, but sets up for more to come for her, and after Tai Lung's defeated, she orders for him to be thrown into the rivers that lead to different parts of China, since he's of no use to her, and after that, over the course of the movie, she continues to take the skills of not only Chen and Kai, but the other master's like before and imprisons them, which makes her more dangerous then she was before.
And most importantly, her new backstory, i came up with something that not only will help her as a character, but make her relate to Po in some way. Instead of her being rejected from Kung fu because she's too small, she was rejected because the master's didn't see the potential in her because she's a chameleon, which are seen as weak flimsy creatures in this world compared to other animals, she would continue to try and find a master to learn kung fu from, but is rejected over and over again which begins to drive her mad. The reason she wanted to learn kung fu in the first place because seeing these master's fight to protect others, which made her want to be a fighter to protect her home too, but this rejection not only broke her view on the master's she looked up too, but made her mad at them for looking down at her not as her own person, but for what she is.
After the last rejection she gets, it's the last straw. And she decides to do something herself after being driven to a breaking point. She breaks into one of the master's palaces to steal something to help her learn to fight, and she does find a spell that she learns to use, this is the spell that lets her take other's skills, and shapeshift into them. And with this new spell she learns, she uses it to overthrow the previous master's and protectors of the home she lived in, and even kills them to establish her dominance as the new ruler of the city, which gives her a scary presence and makes her more threatening, but what she didn't know is that the spell she learned corrupts the wielder over time, and the reason she killed the master's was because of the spells influence, and it will only get worse with the more she uses it.
This not only will give her some relation to Po, because this will make her look like a dark reflection if Po gave up from learning Kung fu normally with his determination and confidence, but also what it may be like if he resorted to other darker ways to learn it. I think this would be so much better for her to be a threat, and a character of her own, it makes sense, and makes her a threat. And now that we're getting to my story, here's how i think Spike can be included in it.
I'm thinking at one point in the movie, Spike is captured by the Chameleon after false info on where she is, and Spike is forced to confront her like the master's who fell before her, but Spike's able to sense a dark force that's corrupting her, and can sense she's not doing this willingly, despite her wicked look and actions making it look like she is. So during a fight between Spike and the Chameleon, Spike is able to use his own Chi to force the darkness out of her, since he's become as strong as Po at this point, he's able to force it out of her, which not only restores the Chameleon to the person she used to be before she was driven to be evil, but she is able to see the horrific things that came from the spell and the dark force she used.
But while they thought it was over, the very spell takes it's own physical form, after absorbing the knowledge and forms of dozens of other master's, it takes the Chameleon's place as the main antagonist, and despite Spike's best efforts, he is defeated by it and can't do it on his own, and when the room he's in begins to collapse, he saves the Chameleon's life and takes her to a place to recover, while the dark force that now has control, it begins to not only take the skills of all the master's who continue to fall to it, but it starts to take away what's left of they're life force as well, which makes it far more deadly then before.
And after this, Spike and the Chameleon have a heartfelt talk about what's happened with her, and why she did what she did, it leads to her and Spike actually forming a friendship, and it sets the Chameleon up for a redemption arc like Tai Lung, so when Spike get's a back with the rest of the group and explains what's going on, they all finally understand and feel remorse for what's happened to her, even Zhen because she didn't know her tragic past. So when the heroes confront the dark force that's on the verge of destroying China, Spike, Po, Zhen and the Chameleon use Oogway's staff all together to form a powerful blast to destroy it, and Tai Lung delivers a finishing blow to it to finally destroy it for good.
After this, All the master's skills and ability's are returned to them, and Chameleon apologizes for all she's done to them, but this leads to the master's apologizing to her for rejecting her, and it finally lets her feel peace and understanding after all that's happened. And after that, the master's return to the Spirit Realm including Tai Lung, and the day is saved. And not only Zhen will be the new Dragon Warrior and will be going through training to become a warrior, but Spike and Viper help the Chameleon with helping her achieve what she wanted, to learn to Kung fu, and fight and protect her home and new friends.
I think this would make for such a great character if done right. It not only gives her a threatening presence for the time she's a villain, but gives her a tragic story that may lead her to redeeming herself and becoming an ally, i know her theme is that Po can change and that she can't, but i feel like she can help with the theme of change if done right.
And that's my ideas for how i can fix the Chameleon for when i reach KFP 4, i know i started off with a bit of a rant again, but it's just to help let you know what went wrong with her in the first place, i feel like if the movie was 2 hours long, the concept of the Chameleon could've worked way better, I just hope Mitchel doesn't return to the franchise, and whoever is in charge of directing the next movie can fix what was messed up. I hope you all liked my ideas for what i can do with the Chameleon, i know this is completely rewriting most of the movie, but i feel like a rewrite like this is to help with the Chameleon as a character, and help develop her and Zhen more, so i hope you don't mind. Thank you all for reading this and please let me know your thoughts in the comments, hope you have a great day guys!
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Hmmm...that sounds nice. Maybe for another part you could have the spell be an evil spirit warrior or something who was thrown there for past misdeeds?