Avatar: The Last Airbender cast adds three more as principal photography begins

Yip Yip! Netflix has announced that production for its live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender has officially begun. Principal photography is currently underway in Vancouver, just as three new actors have joined the cast.

Per Netflix’s official press release:

Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Kim’s Convenience, The Mandalorian) will play Uncle Iroh, a retired Fire Nation general and the wise and nurturing mentor to his hot-headed nephew, Prince Zuko.

Lim Kay Siu (Anna and The King, Nightwatch) will play Gyatso, a kind and caring Air Nomad monk who is the guardian, father figure, and best friend to Aang.

Ken Leung (he/him; Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Industry) will play Commander Zhao, a scheming and ambitious Fire Nation military officer who’s eager to leverage an unexpected encounter with a desperate Prince Zuko to advance his personal goals.

The new cast joins previously announced Gordon Cormier as Aang, Kiawentiio as Katara, Ian Ousley as Sokka, Dallas Liu as Zuko, and Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai.

Filming for the series will take place in a new, custom-built facility using some of the same cutting-edge technology that was used for Netflix’s The Midnight Sky and 1899, and Disney’s The Mandalorian. The state-of-the-art stage, designed and operated by Pixomondo (“PXO”) Virtual Production, is 84 feet across and 28 feet high with 23,000 square feet of stage space and more than 3000 LED Panels, making it one of the biggest virtual production volumes in North America. The virtual production stage which allows for visual effects to be done in real-time in-camera, combining multiple environments on a single stage, will set a new standard for immersive storytelling.

The series will be an authentic adaptation of the award-winning and beloved Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender reimagined as a live-action adventure. Albert Kim (Sleepy Hollow, Nikita) serves as showrunner, executive producer, and writer. Alongside Kim, Rideback’s Dan Lin (The Lego Movie, Aladdin) and Lindsey Liberatore (Walker) serve as executive producers as well as Michael Goi (Swamp Thing, American Horror Story). Goi, Roseanne Liang (also a co-executive producer), Jabbar Raisani, and Jet Wilkinson direct.

“We’re thrilled to start production on this incredible project, and we’re especially excited to work with the technology-benders at PXO to create the wondrous world of Avatar: The Last Airbender using the most advanced techniques available to filmmakers anywhere in the world,” said Kim.

Fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender will be keeping a close eye on how Netflix’s live-action adaptation progresses, myself included. Avatar: The Last Airbender is regarded by many as being one of the greatest animated series of all time, which is why tables were proverbially flipped when M. Night Shyamalan released his live-action adaptation in 2010. Say what you will about the “What a twist” filmmaker, but Shyamalan’s version of the beloved story of Aang and his friends was an unmitigated disaster. In addition to the film being woefully miscast, key story elements were omitted to save time, leaving fans with little more than a watered-down romp through low-grade CGI landscapes. I certainly hope that Netflix has a better version of the original story in mind, and allows the characters to grow across the show’s episodic format. My fingers are officially crossed, and from the looks of the cast Netflix has assembled, we’re off to a great start. Yip Yip!