Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender just added some serious TV star power. Daniel Dae Kim, best known for roles on Lost, Hawaii Five-0, and The Good Doctor, has joined the production as Fire Lord Ozai, leader of the Fire Nation and father to the villainous teen, Prince Zuko.
Netflix broke the news on its own Twitter feed and it comes about three months after the four leads were announced. Those are Gordon Cormier (Lost in Space, The Stand) as the Avatar himself, Aang; Kiawentiio (What If, Anne With an E), as burgeoning waterbender Katara; Ian Ousley (13 Reasons Why, Sorry For Your Loss) as her brother Sokkal and Dallas Liu (PEN15) as the aforementioned Zuko. On the show, of course, Katara and Sokka happen upon the Avatar, who the world believed to be missing, and join him on a journey to fulfill his destiny by mastering all manners of bending. They’re then chased by Zuko, at the urging of his father Ozai, who want the Avatar for themselves and their villainous Fire Nation.
Dae Kim was last seen (or, more specifically, heard) as the voice of Benja in Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon. That film drew heavily from the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and also showcased Dae Kim as a compassionate, powerful father figure. In this show though, he’ll be those things with a much more sinister spin.
The show had a bit of a rough start, losing the original creators along the way, but it’s now under the eye of showrunner Albert Kim (Sleepy Hollow) who is doing everything in his power to make a show that’s both accessible to new fans and satisfying to diehards. “Throughout this process, our byword has been ‘authenticity,’” Kim said a few months back. “To the story. To the characters. To the cultural influences. Authenticity is what keeps us going, both in front of the camera and behind it, which is why we’ve assembled a team unlike any seen before—a group of talented and passionate artists who are working around the clock to bring this rich and incredibly beautiful world to life.”
How are you feeling about Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender?
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