Entertainment Weekly has announced new cast members for Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender series. The live-action series is inspired by the original TV show that aired on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008.
The cast for the main characters was announced in August of 2021. The cast members of this new announcement are a part of a group of characters that while not part of the main cast, are recurring characters that might have some significance to the story. These characters are either an aid to the protagonist Aang or just a recurring joke like the Cabbage man that is going to be played by James Sie (Stillwater) who will be reprising his role.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the showrunner, producer, and writer of the series, Albert Kim (Sleepy Hollow, Nikita), has spoken about the importance of casting the right actors in the live-action series. Kim has said that to him it is important to showcase Asian and Indigenous characters in live-action series as opposed to animated ones. This is why all the actors for this show are either Asian or Indigenous, keeping faithful to how they were portrayed in the original show.
Famous Asian actors have been called to play important characters in the show. One of them is Daniel Dae Kim (Lost, Hawaii Five-0) playing Fire Lord Ozai, the story’s main villain. Another actor is Ken Leung (The Blacklist, Inhumans), who will play Commander Zhao. The live-action remake of Avatar: The Last Airbender is a step forward in Asian and Indigenous representation in mainstream media.
The new cast announcements made by Netflix during Tudum have been split into the four nations from the TV show. The cast that has been announced for the Water Tribe includes Princess Yue played by Amber Midthunder (Rosewell, Legion); and, Avatar Kuruk played by Meegwun Fairbrother (Skymed, Mohawk Girls).
From the Earth Kingdom, it has been announced that Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts, Never Have I Ever) will be playing King Bumi and that Danny Pudi (Mythic Quest, American Dreamer) will be playing the Mechanist.
The Fire Nation has had the most additions to the cast including Azula’s friends Ty Lee played by Momona Tamada (The Baby-Sitters Club, The Main Event), and Mai played by Thalia Tran (Little, Council of Dads). They also announced the appearance of C.S. Lee (Dexter, Chicago Med) as Avatar Roku.
With all the new announcements for the characters, fans of the original show have been anxiously waiting for a trailer. Netflix is still to announce when the show will premier. In the meantime, check the full list of the new cast members here.