This 2021 series is a re-imagining rather than a direct reboot of the 1972 Kung Fu series, which starred David Carradine as a fugitive Shaolin monk traveling the American Old West.

The project went through three separate reboot attempts before becoming the 2021 CW series. Two earlier versions were developed at Fox with female protagonists but never went to pilot, including one about a Buddhist monk named Lucy Chang searching for her stolen child in 1950s America, and another about a woman inheriting her father's kung fu studio that secretly helps the Chinatown community.

Development began in September 2017 with Greg Berlanti and Wendy Mericle at Fox, and the project later moved to Sleepy Hollow producer Albert Kim before finally landing at The CW in November 2019, where it was rewritten by Christina M. Kim and Martin Gero.

Kung Fu is notable as one of the few American network dramas to feature a predominantly Asian American cast, including veteran actor Tzi Ma.

Lead actress Olivia Liang revealed she had deliberately avoided martial arts before landing this role because she wanted to avoid stereotypes, and only decided to train once she was actually cast and paid for it, later embracing the sport and its potential to add depth to Asian characters.

Gwendoline Yeo was originally cast as Zhilan in March 2020, but the role was later recast with Yvonne Chapman, who joined in a recurring capacity in November 2020 before being promoted to series regular for season two.

Actress Vanessa Kai plays dual roles in the series, portraying both Nicky's mentor Pei-Ling Zhang and the ancient character Xiao/The Alchemist, creator of the warrior and guardian bloodlines.

Principal photography for the series took place in Langley, British Columbia, with each season's filming schedule running roughly from fall/summer into the following spring or winter.