Avatar: The Last Airbender remake casts King Bumi, cabbage merchant, and more

Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the most beloved animated shows of all time. It follows Aang, the Avatar, who has the power to control (or “bend”) all four elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. When the tyrannical Fire Nation seeks to seize control of the Four Nations (each representing one element) Aang and his group set off on a quest to defeat them. Despite premiering in 2005, the Avatar fan base is stronger than ever, so Netflix has decided to give it the big budget live-action remake treatment.

Of course, Avatar already had a live-action adaptation in the form of M. Night Shyamalan’s 2010 movie, but it’s one best forgotten. With a lot of ambition and a heap of money from Netflix, hopefully the TV show will fare better. A lot of the main cast has already been announced. The titular Avatar, Aang, is played by Gordon Cormier. Other cast members include Kiawentiio Tarbell (Katara), Ian Ousley (Sokka), Dallas James Liu (Zuko), Elizabeth Yu (Azula), Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Iroh), Daniel Dae Kim (Fire Lord Ozai), Maria Zhang (Suki), Tamlyn Tomita (Yukari), Yvonne Chapman (Avatar Kyoshi), and Casey Camp-Horinek (Gran Gran). See the full cast list here.

In the latest batch of casting news, Netflix unveiled the actors behind some of the show’s most popular characters:

George Takei, Danny Pudi and others join the cast of Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender remake

• Utkarsh Ambudkar plays King Bumi — an very old friend of Avatar Aang, Bumi is the elderly, eccentric King of Omashu.
• James Sie is the cabbage merchant, an incredibly unlucky guy whose stall is continuously destroyed throughout the series.
• Arden Cho is June, a traveller and possibly the best bounty hunter in the Four Nations.
• George Takei is Koh the Face Stealer, who is among the most knowledgable spirits in the Spirit World. Kakei is one of the bigger gets for the show.
• Amber Midthunder is Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe. She’s a love interest for Sokka.
• Danny Pudi is the Mechanist, an inventor from the Earth Kingdom who is forced to relocate to the Northern Air Temple following a flood.
• Thalia Tran is Mai and Momona Tamada is Ty Lee, attendees of the Royal Fire Academy and friends of Princess Azula of the Fire Nation.

Netflix’s Avatar remake doesn’t have a release date yet, although some time next year seems very likely. I was surprised that we didn’t get any update during the streamer’s recent TUDUM event, which suggests that it may be a little further off than we expected.

We’re on the precipice of a flood of Avatar projects hitting our screens in the coming years. Not only is Netflix developing its live-action remake, but original series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko are also working on various animated projects after founding Avatar Studios. Are you ready for more adventures in the Four Nations?

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels