Five years after the streamer first announced that a live-action adaptation of Nickelodeon\u2019s Avatar: The Last Airbender would be coming to the platform, we\u2019re finally getting it next year.<\/p>\n
Netflix<\/a> first announced plans for a live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender in 2018, with original creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko returning to oversee what was described as a \u201creimagining\u201d of the Nickelodeon animated series.<\/p>\n However, in August 2020, DiMartino and Konietzko resurfaced to\u00a0announce their departure from the series<\/a>\u00a0in an\u00a0open letter to fans,<\/a> citing a loss of creative direction over the show.<\/p>\n The live-action reboot of the series will revolve around 12-year-old Avatar Aang, the only being able to manipulate all four natural elements, as he journeys to defeat the Fire Lord and bring peace before Zuko, prince of the Fire Nation, tracks him down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n While the animated series had an incredible cast featuring Mark Hamill and Mae Whitman, the Netflix live-action has set its sights on a batch of well-known and fresh faces to give us what looks to be a strikingly life-like cast to their animated counterparts.<\/p>\n Who is Aang?\u00a0<\/strong>Aang is none other than the titular Last Airbender, who was frozen in a big old block of ice until Katara and Sokka come across him, thawing him out and setting in motion some pretty epic and near cataclysmic events (though that\u2019s not Aang\u2019s fault). It\u2019s quite a culture shock for Aang to discover that he is the last of his tribe and that the Fire Nation now rule supreme, and he sets out with the help of Sokka and Katara to end the war, and restore the balance once and for all.<\/p>\n Where have I seen Gordon Cormier before?\u00a0<\/strong>You probably don\u2019t know Gordon from much at all \u2013 outside of the 2020 TV adaptation of Stephen King\u2019s The Stand, Avatar: The Last Airbender looks poised to be Cormier\u2019s big worldwide debut onto everyone\u2019s screens.<\/p>\n Who is Katara?\u00a0<\/strong>Katara, alongside her brother, is one of the few remaining water benders adrift and in search of a new home after the fall out from a vicious Fire Nation attack, which left the pair without a mother. While Aang is the most physically powerful, it\u2019s undeniable that Katara is the emotional powerhouse of the troupe, keeping the trio anchored and making sure that above all else, they\u2019re getting what they need to done.<\/p>\n Where have I seen Kiawentiio before?\u00a0<\/strong>Similar to her co-star Cormier, Kiawentiio is another upcoming actrss, best known for her role in season three of Anne with an E before this. She was one of 200 indigenous Canadian actresses to audition for that role, making it clear that she\u2019s someone to watch as she steps into the role of Katara.<\/p>\n Who is Sokka?\u00a0<\/strong>Sokka is the slightly headstrong older brother of Katara who tries to protect her whenever he can. At one point, he attempted to become the pseudo-leader of their tribe after their father went off to war, but was unsuccessful in becoming the full leader. While he lacks the emotional intelligence of his sister, he more than makes up for it in his courage and willingness todo what is right for others.<\/p>\n Where have I seen Ian Ousley before?\u00a0<\/strong>Before being cast as Sokka, Ousley had stints on Apple TV+\u2019s Physical, Disney+\u2019s Big Shot, 13 Reasons Why and Young Sheldon. Much like his co-stars, this appears to be his big worldwide break.<\/p>\n Who is Zuko?\u00a0<\/strong>A former member of the Fire Nation tribe, actually the Crown Prince, temporarily exiled, Zuko is something of a hot-head (pun intended) who is set out on a quest to capture the one thing that threatens the Fire Nation\u2019s dominance \u2013 The Avatar. Accompanied by his Uncle Iroh, Zukko plays a pivotal role in Aang, Sokka and Katara\u2019s journey, firstly as a clear and present danger to their quest \u2013 but as the world evolves, some enemies becomes friends, and some friends may even become foes.<\/p>\n Where have I seen Dallas Liu before?\u00a0<\/strong>Liu is no stranger to adaptations, with his first ever acting role in the film adaptation of Tekken, after being referred to the audition process by one of his martial arts teachers. From there, he\u2019s played roles in Hulu comedy PEN15 as well as hit Marvel Cinematic Universe entry Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, as Katy\u2019s younger brother, Ruihua.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Who is Fire Lord Ozai?\u00a0<\/strong>Ozai is THE MVP of the Fire Nation, ruling over the destructive tribe as their sole, tyrannical leader. He\u2019s also the father to Zuko and Azula, and of course, Iroh\u2019s younger brother. It\u2019s clear that the Fire Nation is something of a dysfunctional family, but you don\u2019t want to cross Fire Lord Ozai as it\u2019s made clear many times in the animated series \u2013 and undoubtedly, by the end of the first episode of the live-action show, we\u2019ll have felt the wrath of Ozai.<\/p>\n Where have I seen Daniel Dae Kim before?\u00a0<\/strong>Kim has actually been involved in The Last Airbender before, having voiced the role of General Fong in Book 2 of the anime, alongside The Legend of Korra where he voiced Hiroshi Sato. Outside of the Airbender universe, he\u2019s appeared in David Harbour\u2019s Hellboy reboot, portrayed Johnny Gat in the Saints Row videogame series, and of course, squared off against Freddie Highmore in The Good Doctor.<\/p>\n Who is Uncle Iroh?\u00a0<\/strong>Uncle Iroh is a bit of an outlier within the Fire Nation, and especially within Zuko\u2019s family. Unless the rest of the fiery family, he keeps a constant level-head, and is often understand as Zuko\u2019s guiding light, like an emotional safety net keeping him from falling into the eternal hellfire of anger and evil that has consumed his father. Iroh plays a very important role as the series develops, especially as it begins to reach the endgame of the ultimate showdown between Avatar and Fire Nation \u2013 but to say how would be too big a spoiler.<\/p>\n Where have I seen Paul Sun-Hyung Lee before?\u00a0<\/strong>You likely recognise Lee from the television adaptation of Kim\u2019s Convenience, where he plays family patriarch Appa \u2013 this was the role in which he rose to fame, winning multiple Canadian Screen Awards for his heartwarming-but-hilarious portrayal. He\u2019s also appeared in Disney\u2019s The Mandalorian and Ahsoka as Captain Carson Teva, as well as the reboot of Degrassi: The Next Generation.<\/p>\n Who is Azula?\u00a0<\/strong>If Zuko is closer to Iroh, then Azula is definitely closer to Ozai. An incredible mastermind of not only firebending, but war tactics, psychological torment, and much more, Azula is set upon by her father to retrieve Zuko and Iroh from their own quest to capture Aang. There\u2019s an inherent deceptiveness and evil to Azula that constantly lurks just beneath her every sentence or every action \u2013 as\u00a0 her own brother says, she always lie. Fans of the anime know just how true this is \u2013 live-action fans, you\u2019ve got a lot to learn.<\/p>\n Where have I seen Elizabeth Yu before?\u00a0<\/strong>Yu actually just starred in May December alongside Charles Melton and Julianne Moore as one of their children, Mary Artherton-Yoo. Apart from that, she\u2019s almost completely brand-new onto the scene of acting, making her debut as Azula something that could cause her to explode onto the scene with a fiery brilliance.<\/p>\n Who is Commander Zhao?\u00a0<\/strong>Zuko isn\u2019t the only person chasing after Aang, there\u2019s also Commander Zhao. Another contingency plan put into place by Ozai, Commander Zhao is your classic evil soldier \u2013 he\u2019s ambitious, ruthless, confident to the point of arrogance and willing to annihilate anyone in his way in order to achieve his goals. Sound familiar to another well-placed official in the Fire Nation? Zuko and Zhao butt heads multiple times over the course of the series, both in their pursuit for Aang and their bitter hatred for one another, proving that while the Fire Nation as a whole is a powerful, dominant force, there\u2019s more than a little dissent in the ranks.<\/p>\n Where have I seen Ken Leung before?\u00a0<\/strong>Leung\u2019s recent film work includes M. Night Shyamalan\u2019s beach-based horror Old and screenlife thriller Missing, but he\u2019s much more known for his work on the small screen including bullish businessman Eric Tao on Industry (above), The Blacklist, The Night Shit, and lending his voice to HBO Max\u2019s Velma.<\/p> Who is Princess Yue?\u00a0<\/strong>Princess Yue is the princess of the Northern Water Tribe, and ends up complicatedly entangled with Sokka despite being engaged to another man. I know, talk about melodrama! Their connection grows after Zhao arrives in the area, and she plays a vital role throughout the first major storyline of The Last Airbender anime. Once again, to say any more will be a spoiler \u2013 but if anyone\u2019s perfect to play this, it\u2019d be Amber Midthunder.<\/p>\n Where have I seen Amber Midthunder before?\u00a0<\/strong>Most people probably know Midthunder as the incredibly striking Naru in Dan Tratchenberg\u2019s Prey (above), and prior to that, she featured in Roswell, New Mexico as well as FX\u2019s Legion. She\u2019s on a roll when it comes to bigger, more fantastic parts as is clear with the live-action adaptation of The Last Airbender.<\/p>\n Avatar: The Last Airbender is coming to Netflix in 2024.\u00a0<\/strong>You can check out the\u00a0best series on Netflix<\/a>,\u00a0best movies on Netflix<\/a>\u00a0or visit out\u00a0TV Guide<\/a> for more to watch.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310 \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Yup yup, here we go. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":42367,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/avatar-the-last-airbender-live-action-cast-full-list-of-characters-scaled.jpg",2560,1702,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/avatar-the-last-airbender-live-action-cast-full-list-of-characters-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/avatar-the-last-airbender-live-action-cast-full-list-of-characters-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/avatar-the-last-airbender-live-action-cast-full-list-of-characters-768x511.jpg",768,511,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/avatar-the-last-airbender-live-action-cast-full-list-of-characters-1024x681.jpg",800,532,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/avatar-the-last-airbender-live-action-cast-full-list-of-characters-1536x1021.jpg",1536,1021,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/avatar-the-last-airbender-live-action-cast-full-list-of-characters-2048x1362.jpg",2048,1362,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Yup yup, here we go.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/42366"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action cast<\/h2>\n
\n
Gordon Cormier is Aang<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Gordon](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/AVTR101Unit01655-cdcb710.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C412\" "\\"Avatar")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>Kiawentiio is Katara<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Katara](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/Katara-Last-Airbender-c1f9e21-e1699462938459.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413\" "\\"Katara")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>\nIan Ousley is Sokka<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Avatar:](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/AVTR101Unit02171-9dc71c4.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C412\" "\\"AVTR_101_Unit_02171\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>\nDallas Liu is Zuko<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"ATLA](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/ATLA-Live-Action-4-Cropped-389d8ec.jpg?quality=90&resize=551%2C413\" "\\"ATLA")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div> Daniel Dae Kim is Fire Lord Ozai<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"ATLA](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/ATLA-Live-Action-Cropped-9cff573-e1698056338317.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"ATLA")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div> Paul Sun-Hyung Lee is Uncle Iroh<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Avatar:](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/AVTRUnit04972R2-3779c21.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C412\" "\\"AVTR_Unit_04972R2\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>\nElizabeth Yu is Azula<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"ATLA](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/ATLA-Live-Action-2-Cropped-ed12071-e1698056264204.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"ATLA")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div> Ken Leung is Commander Zhao<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Myha'la](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/Myhala-Herrold-Harper-Stern-Ken-Leung-Eric-Tao-Industry-7ddfb1c.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Myha'la-Herrold-Harper-Stern-Ken-Leung-Eric-Tao-Industry\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div> Amber Midthunder is Princess Yue<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Amber](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/08\/preytrlr086650crop-6800331.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C310\" "\\"Prey\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"