Action icons collide while 30,000 feet in the air in the turbulent new trailer for new action thriller Wings of Dread, which is streaming now. The high-flying action flick finds underrated actor and martial artist Iko Uwais breaking bad as he unleashes The Raid on a plane in the no-nonsense tale of an air marshal caught in a hijacking crisis.
Co-directed by Pengfei Qin (Red Cliff) and Ashton Chen (Ip Man 2), the latter of whom stars as the hero of the piece alongside Uwais’ bespectacled villain, Wings of Dread forces the aggressively gritty action expertise of The Raid into a cramped fuselage. Centering on air marshal Gu Chaoyang (Chen), who encounters a ruthless hijacking while on a flight back from his honeymoon, the new Wings of Dread footage teases an unstoppable action thriller that follows in the hard-hitting footsteps of Wesley Snipes’ Passenger 57, Harrison Ford’s Air Force One, Liam Neeosn’s Non-Stop, and Josh Hartnett’s recent Fight or Flight.
But as the trailer demonstrates, having the talents of Ashton Chen and Iko Uwais at its core gives Wings of Dread the potential to soar far higher than any that came before. Uwais, in particular, is clearly having a great time tapping into the villainy he showed off in the likes of The Night Comes for Us and Expend4bles as he delivers rapid-fire strikes while hurling Chen’s strait-laced hero around the aircraft.
Wings of Dread marks the first of several collaborations between Iko Uwais and the streaming platform iQIYI, which has been available in the United States and elsewhere since 2018. The action thriller is available to stream on the platform from July 3, 2026, and will surely rise rapidly on action fans’ must-watch lists.
Despite his obvious talent and the success of The Raid franchise, Hollywood has struggled to find a place for Uwais, with the likes of Mile 22, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and even the action sequel Expend4bles failing to give his particular set of skills the spotlight they deserve. However, alongside Wings of Dread, Uwais has several hugely exciting projects currently in the pipeline. The actor and martial artist is all set to lead the 70s throwback MRI as a hitman trapped in a hospital under siege, share the screen with fellow action icon Scott Adkins in the sci-fi action follow-up Skyline: Warpath, summon his inner John Wick for Survive the Night, and join Jake Gyllenhaal in the Amazon action sequel Road House 2.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
