Last Airbender remake will “bring everything you love about the original series back to life”
By Dan Selcke
TV shows don’t come much more beloved than Avatar: The Last Airbender. The original Nickelodeon series about a group of precocious teenagers who save the world from a fire-bending tyrant captured the imagination of fans everywhere and continues to be popular to this day. And now Netflix is mounting a live-action remake. There’s a lot of pressure on them to get it right.
Speaking at a Tudum event in Brazil, the cast promised fans that they have nothing to worry about. “Avatar: The Last Airbender live action I feel like is going to bring everything you know and love about the original series back to life,” said Gordon Cormier, who plays Aang, the titular last airbender. “And hopefully [it will] just bring a bunch of new fans who have never heard [of] the show before into this universe, and to me that’s pretty exciting. I’m a fan of the show personally, and I’m just [as] excited for this as you guys are.”
The cast seems to fit their characters well. For instance, Ian Ousley, who plays the sarcastic Sokka, cracked a lot of jokes, saying that “haircut day” was one of his favorite memories from shooting because that’s where the cast really got to transform into their characters for the first time. “That day was a little easier for some than others,” he laughed. “Another thing that was a huge moment for me was getting to hold and unsheathe my boomerang for the first time. That was amazing…A cool personal thing for me was getting to work with actors that I was fans of beforehand, like Danny Pudi from Community.”
The bending looks “so cool” in Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender remake
In the world of The Last Airbender, certain people can “bend,” or control, elements like air, fire, water and earth. It’s an important part of the mythology, but could look very silly in live-action. Kiawentiio, who plays Katara, is here to reassure us. “I’ve only [gotten] to see one finished scene with the effects, but it was so cool and I can’t wait to see the whole series done,” she said. “I know everybody is working really hard to make it the best that it can be.”
"Another personal favorite of mine is Episode 5. It was my favorite when I read it, and as soon as I read it, I couldn’t wait to film it. The characters go through a lot of different things, and they see their situation through different perspectives, and I just can’t wait for you guys to see that."
Finally, Dallas Liu, who plays Zuko, talked about working with Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, who plays Zuko’s kindly Uncle Iroh. “He’s the perfect Uncle Iroh. There isn’t anyone that could’ve done a better job than him,” Liu said. “But I received advice probably on the daily about anything that you can think of, from what it means to be leader or how to present yourself as a professional on set. He’s a real-life Uncle Iroh to me now.”
"And Daniel Dae Kim, he has the real life presence of Fire Lord Ozai. The day he walked on set, he was so intimidating. I knew he was the Fire Lord, and I think everyone can agree on that. But what I received from him was validation. He made me feel I belonged to be working alongside these amazing people."
In 2010, M. Night Shyamalan made a live-action movie version of The Last Airbender that tanked so badly it put anyone else off trying for over a decade. Can Netflix’s remake succeed where it failed? We’ll find out when the show premieres sometime in 2024.
Next. Every actor in Netflix’s Avatar: the Last Airbender remake (and who they’re playing). dark
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