New Cast Members Announced For Netflix's 'The Last Airbender' Series
Image Source: Giant Freakin Robot
The live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix is getting closer and closer to realization. During its TUDUM event, Netflix revealed the full cast list for the first season of the highly anticipated Avatar: The Last Airbender. Until now, fans, and skeptics have been treated to snippets of reveals along the way. Now that the full cast list is public, more characters were revealed, raising an eyebrow about the plotlines that will be covered in the first season.
The cast is resoundingly devoid of white actors, with all cast of East, Southeast, and South Asian cultures, and the Water Tribe characters representing Native American cultures. It is a testament to showrunner Albert Kim when he said the series will be “a chance to showcase Asian and indigenous characters as living, breathing people. Not just in a cartoon, but in a world that truly exists, very similar to the one we live in.” It is also a nod to the original animated series’ depiction of fictional cultures heavily influenced by Asian, Mesoamerican, and native peoples and cultures.
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The series’ cast members include George Takei, portraying the role of Koh the Face Stealer from the spirit world. Randall Duk Kim will be voicing Wan Shi Tong, a spirit in the form of an owl who watches over a library that contains all the world’s knowledge. This is an interesting casting choice because Wan Shi Tong did not appear until the second season of Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series (ATLA). However, Wan Shi Tong refers to a Fire Nation soldier that had come to his library under false pretenses, pointing to Commander Zhao and his scheme in Season 1. So it’s entirely possible that could be what we see in this first season.
Other intriguing character choices are Ty Lee (played by Momona Tamada), and Mai (played by Thalia Tran). They also did not appear until Season 2 of ATLA. Since Princess Azula of the Fire Nation (Zuko’s sister), who is a friend of Ty Lee and Mai, is cast in Season 1, it makes sense that they would be there too. However, Azula is not introduced until the end of Season 1 of the animated series, so it is unclear where the showrunners will take her and her friends in the live-action version.
George Takei (Koh the Face Stealer), Momona Tamada (Ty Lee), Thalia Tran (Mai)
There has been no trailer as of yet, but with New York Comic Con coming soon, and Netflix finally revealing the full cast, there is bound to be one soon, hopefully before the end of the year.
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Source(s): Netflix