Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the most beloved shows of all time. Regardless of the medium, as Avatar is entirely animated, fans around the world, both young and old, fell in love with the characters and overarching plot, which spanned three seasons. A follow-up series, The Legend of Korra, arrived in 2012, receiving praise from fans and critics, although it may not reach the heights of the initial series. Unfortunately, only one live-action adaptation has been released since Avatar: The Last Airbender arrived in 2005, and it received some of the harshest criticism in recent memory. The Last Airbender was released in 2010, helmed by M. Night Shyamalan, and received awful reviews from critics and fans. Everything from the pacing, the VFX, and especially the casting was criticized. The adaptation was deemed an utter failure, and no one has tried to adapt the series to live-action again.
Of course, that is until Netflix announced they would take the series into a new medium with a more grounded and mature tone. Casting has been underway for the series for some time, and now the streaming giant has added a few new names to the ever-growing list of the ensemble cast. The announcement comes courtesy of the Netflix Geeked Twitter account. The new cast members include Arden Cho as June, Momona Tamada as Ty lee, Thalia Tran as Mai, Utkarsh Ambudkar as King Bumi, Amber Midthunder as Princess Yue, and Danny Pudi as The Mechanist. In addition, two cast members are quite notable, with legendary Star Trek actor George Takei as Koh, and the original Cabbage Merchant voice actor, James Sie, reprising his role for the series.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Has the Perfect Cast So Far
A live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender needs a lot of things to go right to be a success, and Netflix is doing everything they can thus far to ensure the series is excellent. The casting announcements have gotten a lot of excitement from fans, as the real life-counterparts both resemble their characters and have the talent necessary to bring them to life. The cast list so far includes Gordon Cormier (Aang), Dallas Liu (Zuko), Daniel Dae Kim (Fire Lord Ozai), and Ken Leung (Commander Zhao), along with many more.
Filming has already wrapped on Season 1 of the series, meaning we could begin to see a trailer or more news about a release once the VFX portion of the show is finished. Fans should expect to see Netflix's live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender sometime in 2023 or early 2024.