The Brother’s Sun. (L to R) Michelle Yeoh as Mama Sun, Chau Long as Steve in episode 105 of The Brother’s Sun. Cr. Michael Desmond/Netflix © 2023
Coming out of Brad Fulchuk’s overall deal for Netflix is an all-new action family drama series, The Brothers Sun. Here’s a rundown of everything you need to know about the new series headlined by Michelle Yeoh and Justin Chien. It debuts on Netflix on January 4th, 2024.
First announced in February 2022, the new TV series prides itself on being an “Asian-American centric, Asian-American written, Asian-American directed show”. Eight episodes were ordered upfront.
Brad Falchuk is the project’s creator, executive producer, and showrunner. Falchuk is perhaps best known for his collaborations with Ryan Murphy on various projects, including American Crime Story and American Horror Story. For Netflix, the creator for Netflix worked on seasons 1-2 of The Politician (not expected to return for season 3). Falchuk works exclusively with Netflix under an overall deal struck in March 2019.
Also serving as a creator on the project is Bryon Wu, marking his first major project since the 2018 short The Getaway.
Pictured: Brad Falchuk and Byron Wu
Directing on the series are Kevin Tancharoen and Viet Nguyen.
Let’s dig into what else is known about The Brothers Sun kicking off with the first look trailer revealed at Geeked Week 2023.
What’s The Brothers Sun on Netflix about?
The series is described as a dark action-comedy about two estranged Taiwanese brothers. One of them is a college student in Los Angeles, and the other is a Triad gangster in Taipei.
Bruce Sun is a meek college student whose only concern is hiding his dreams of being the next improv comedy star from his mother. His estranged older brother, Charles Sun, was raised by their crime boss father to be a ruthless killer and put his duty to his family above all else. However, when their father is shot by a mysterious assassin, Charles has to go to Los Angeles to protect his mother and give Bruce a crash course in the family business.
As part of Netflix’s action slate reveal in May 2023, an expanded synopsis was unveiled:
“When the head of a powerful Taiwanese triad is shot by a mysterious assassin, his eldest son, legendary killer Charles “Chairleg” Sun (Justin Chien) heads to Los Angeles to protect his mother, Eileen (Michelle Yeoh), and his naive younger
brother, Bruce (Sam Song Li) — who’s been completely sheltered from the truth of his family until now. But as Taipei’s deadliest societies and a new rising faction go head-to-head for dominance — Charles, Bruce and their mother must heal the wounds caused by their separation and figure out what brotherhood and family truly mean before one of their countless enemies kills them all.”
The Brother’s Sun. Justin Chien as Charles in episode 106 of The Brother’s Sun. Cr. James Clark/Netflix © 2023
Who will be in the cast of Netflix’s The Brothers Sun?
Picture: IMDb
Justin Chien will play the lead role of Charles Sun. He’s best known for Pool Boy and Two Sides: Unfaithful.
Michelle Yeoh will play Mama Sun. Yeoh is coming hot off her excellent performance in A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once and will also appear in The Witcher: Blood Origin later in 2022.
Rounding out the cast includes:
- Highdee Kuan (Netflix’s You) will play Alexis
- Sam Song Li (Better Call Saul) as Bruce Sun
- Joon Lee as TK
- Madison Hu (Bizaardvark) as Grace
- Alice Hewkin (Netflix’s Emily in Paris)
- Maite Garcia (Kenan) as Professor Edner
- Jenny Yang (Last Man Standing) as Xing
- Jon Xue Zhang (Eternals) as Blood Boots
- Rodney To (Parks and Recreation) as Mark
Cast grid for Netflix’s The Brothers Sun
When is The Brothers Sun in production at Netflix?
Filming began on the series on June 15th, 2022, and ran until September 23rd, 2022. However, it has been listed that the series entered post-production at a later date on February 22nd, 2023. We’re unsure why there are two post-production dates, but this could have been for any potential reshoots.
According to production listings, the series was shot predominantly in Taipei City in Taiwan and Los Angeles, California, United States.
Want to add The Brothers Sun to your Netflix queue? You can set a reminder now on the show’s official page here.
Are you looking forward to watching The Brothers Sun on Netflix? Let us know in the comments.
Netflix Synopsis: "When a mysterious enemy targets his family, a Taipei triad member heads to Los Angeles to protect his strong-willed mother and oblivious younger brother."
