Legend tells of the all-powerful Monkey King, who was unmatched in combat, and walked freely through Heaven, Earth, and Hell.

After breaking some of the most important rules set by the Gods, he is imprisoned in an ice cage under the mountains, bound by the only powers able to control him.

Without the great Monkey King, darkness falls across China. While fleeing from the monsters that have attacked his village, a small boy hides in the mountains as his only place of safety, and finds a strange icy pillar bound in chains. He touches the ice, breaking the spell, and begins the events of the movie Monkey King: Hero is Back.