Credit: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Are you excited about the new Avatar live-action series?
When Netflix announced that they would bring the classic cartoon to their streaming platform as a live-action reimaging, fans rejoiced over reliving the adventures of Aang, Katara, Sokka, Prince Zuko, and Toph. Then the wind was taken out of the show’s sails when Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko left the series due to creative differences. Those exact differences were never revealed, though there’s speculation that budget, casting, and a more mature and darker tone were part of the reasoning. It sure sucks that the creators of the iconic series are gone, but that doesn’t mean that the live-action adaptation is dead on arrival. Albert Kim has taken over as showrunner and his credits are Nikita and Sleepy Hollow.
The series is set to premiere sometime in 2023, and Netflix has officially announced the entire cast of the upcoming series. The new list of names will join the following: Gordon Cormier as Aang, Kiawentiio as Katara, Ian Ousley as Sokka, Dallas Liu as Zuko, Elizabeth Yu as Azula, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Iroh, Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai, Maria Zhang as Suki, Tamlyn Tomita as Yukari, Yvonne Chapman as Avatar Kyoshi and Casey Camp-Horinek as Gran Gran.
Credit: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Check out the new list of names below:
- A Martinez as Pakku
- Irene Bedard as Yagoda
- Joel Oulette as Hahn
- Nathaniel Arcand as Chief Arnook
- Meegwun Fairbrother as Avatar Kuruk
- Arden Cho as June
- Utkarsh Ambudkar as King Bumi
- Lucian-River Chauhan as Teo
- James Sie as the Cabbage Merchant
- Momona Tamada as Ty Lee
- Thalia Tran as Mai
- Ruy Iskandar as Lt. Jee
- Hiro Kanagawa as Fire Lord Sozin
- C. S. Lee as Avatar Roku
- Francois Chau as The Great Sage
- Ryan Mah as Lt. Dang
- Randall Duk Kim as the voice of Wan Shi Tong
Credit: Avatar: The Last Airbender
To recall, Avatar: The Last Airbender follows Aang, a 100-year-old Avatar who is supposed to restore balance within the four nations. Unfortunately, Aang comes back to a world that’s ravaged by a war started by the Fire Nation, and he must learn the four elements and stop Fire Lord Ozai from total world domination. The original animated series would go on to win numerous awards throughout its three seasons including a Primetime Emmy for Oustanding Individual Achievement in Animation and an Annie Award for Best Animated Television Production Produced for Children. Of course, this isn’t the first Avatar: The Last Airbender adaptation as M. Night Shyamalan tried his hand at creating a two-hour movie of the popular animated series. Originally, it was supposed to be three films; however, the critical and fan reception was terrible, and more importantly, the box office numbers were disappointingly low. Stiff acting, terrible storytelling, and whitewashing of a prominent Asian cast were the biggest issues that fans had with the series and M. Night Shyamalan’s career was nearly destroyed because of this film (The Happening and Lady in the Water helped with that).
If you’re expecting the live-action adaptation to be a carbon copy of the animation then think again as Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (who plays Iroh) explained that the series will be a bit more mature than the cartoon, “Let’s be frank: the first season of the animated series was geared toward little kids, but as the books went on, the themes became way more mature,” Lee told ComicBook.com. “And you still have that whimsical quality, but the themes were so much deeper and the character arcs were so much more mature. That quality is what they’re trying to bring into the first season.” Hopefully the series turns out to be a strong entry into The Last Airbender canon.
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