2020 – Into the Badlands (TV Series 2015–2019)

spacetime coordinates: In a post-apocalyptic world approximately 500 years in the future, war has left civilization in ruins. Some elements of technology, such as electricity and ground vehicles, have survived the apocalypse but society now shuns firearms, leading to a reliance on melee weaponry and crossbows.

In a territory known as the Badlands, encompassing several states located between the Rocky Mountains and Mississippi River, a feudal society has developed to fill the power vacuum left by the war. Barons control land and monopolies over commodities like opium and fuel, trading amongst themselves to maintain the peace. Each baron is served by a massive workforce of slaves called cogs, as well as a prostitute class called dolls. A baron maintains power through an army of young men and women called clippers: highly trained and loyal warriors, clippers are forbidden from marrying and having children lest their loyalties be divided. Each clipper force is captained by a regent.

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Several groups exist outside the strict hierarchy of the barons. Nomads are the most common, mostly lawless homicidal bandits who subsist on stealing from trade convoys between the baronies but some live in organized clans. The River King and his men control water trade in the Badlands and beyond, and is considered a neutral party in the barons’ power struggles. An ascetic religious movement called the Totemists is also shown to exist on the fringes of society, living in isolated communities and practicing a form of idol worship. The Widow leads a revolutionary group of anti-feudal fighters from her late husband’s barony; although nominally recognized as a baron by her peers, they do not respect her, and the contempt is mutual.

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Nick Frost as Bajie – Into the Badlands _ Season 2, Gallery – Photo Credit: Carlos Serrao/AMC

Little is known of the world beyond the Badlands, but it is implied that it is far less politically stable yet environmentally sound like the Badlands. The mythical utopian city of Azra is believed to exist outside the Badlands but, most dismiss it as a legend.


Into the Badlands is an American television series that premiered on November 15, 2015, on AMC. Into the Badlands has been described as “a high-octane sci-fi martial arts series” and as a “post-apocalyptic drama”. The series follows a warrior and a young boy who journey through a dangerous feudal land together seeking enlightenment. (wiki)

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1987 – Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a 2021 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Shang-Chi, it is the 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). (wiki)

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1658 – A Touch of Sin 天注定 (2013)

timespace coordinates: around 2001-2013, inspired by precise recent events in contemporary China, its vignettes take place in vastly different settings from bustling southern metropolis of Guangzhou and Dongguan to the more rural townships in the province of Shanxi.

directed by Zhangke Jia

“The film draws on the history of wuxia stories. The title in Chinese, 天注定 (Tian zhuding) is literally translated as “heavenly fate” or “fated doom,” while its English title is a reference to King Hu‘s 1971 action epic A Touch of Zen, one of the most influential wuxia films.

It revolves around four threads set in vastly different geographical and social milieus across modern-day China.

The stories are loosely based on:

  1. Hu Wenhai 胡文海 (2001)
  2. Zhou Kehua (2004-2012)
  3. Deng Yujiao incident (2009)
  4. Foxconn suicides (2007-2013)

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