Ejen Ali

Did You Know?

• The end credits of Ejen Ali are written in English instead of Malay, unlike most Malaysian animated TV series, similar to BoBoiBoy.
• Ali's name was chosen because it is simple and frequently used in textbooks, after some initial difficulty choosing a simple name.
• Comot, Ali's pet cat, has heterochromatic eyes and the ability to camouflage as a result of illegal transgenic pet experiments three years prior.

Production

Usamah Zaid Yasin conceived the series after founding WAU Animation in 2013. He and his team studied spy films, animated series, and novels for the storyline. Production took two years before work began in July 2015. The name Ali was chosen because it is simple and common in textbooks. Unlike most Malaysian animated TV series, the end credits are in English. WAU Animation originally planned a feature film but shifted to a series after difficulty securing investment, aiming for at least five seasons. The first movie followed after two seasons.

Characters

Ali bin Ghazali, voiced by Ida Rahayu Yusoff in Malay and McKenzie Atwood in English for season 3, is a lazy schoolboy who lives with his father Dr. Ghazali. He accidentally wields the IRIS gadget, which permanently scans his iris. He uses IRIS until unlocking its override mode, then creates IRIS Atlas and later IRIS Neo. His devices include a yo-yo, aero boots, and a magnetic suit.

In season 3 he is temporarily transferred to the Kombat pillar and later assigned as operator of SATRIA armor. Bakar, voiced by Shafiq Isa in Malay and Bill Butts in English for season 3, is Ali's uncle and a MATA combat agent. He wears gauntlets with a plasma shield. He is framed as a spy when a CCTV shows him sending IRIS blueprint data, but Ali discovers Bakar's brain was controlled by Dr. Aaron/Nueve.

In season 2 he becomes a mentor in the Combat Pillar. Alicia Kheng is voiced by Noorhayati Maslini Omar in Malay and Lizzie Freeman in English for season 3.

Broadcast

In Malaysia, Ejen Ali airs on TV3 and is available on Iflix (season 1) and Netflix (both seasons) with an English dub. It has been shown in over 50 countries. In June 2020, Primeworks Studios announced the series would stream on Amazon Prime in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. In May 2021, Primeworks Studios and WAU Animation approached Disney to stream on Disney+ Hotstar, with co-production confirmed in October 2021 for a late 2021 to early 2022 launch.

The first episode aired 8 April 2016, with subsequent episodes on Fridays at 5:30 p.m. Season 1 ran 13 episodes, concluding on 3 March 2017. An English dub premiered on Disney Channel Asia on 15 December 2017 and finished on 8 June 2018. It aired in India on Nickelodeon Sonic in Hindi from 16 July 2018 but was removed due to low viewership, then aired on Nick HD+ from 5 November 2018 until 30 April 2020. It aired again on Super Hungama from 15 April to 6 May 2024.

Season 2 began 22 September 2017, also on Fridays at 5:30 p.m., and ended on 30 March 2018 with 13 episodes, totaling 26 episodes.

Other media

WAU Animation and Media Prima Digital released the game Ejen Ali: MATA Training Academy for Android and iOS on 4 March 2016, which was downloaded over 260,000 times. A second game, Ejen Ali: Emergency, co-produced with Common Extract, was released in September 2016. Both games won medals at the Mob-Ex Awards 2017: MATA Training Academy won three golds and one bronze, while Emergency won one gold and one bronze. In early 2020, Ejen Ali: Agent's Arena was announced for Android and later iOS but has been removed from most databases.

Ejen Ali collaborated with Mobile Legends: Bang Bang for in-game items in Malaysia and later Indonesia, with mascots appearing at the M7 World Championship opening ceremony on 9 January 2026. The first film, Ejen Ali: The Movie, was released on 28 November 2019. The second film, Ejen Ali: The Movie 2, was released on 22 May 2025. On 3 April 2026, a poster for Ejen Ali The Movie 3 was released, set for a 2028 cinema release.