The Avatar has returned and is now on Netflix for all to witness. The eight action-packed, one hour-long episodes of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” or “The Legend of Aang” tells the events of Book One: Water.
Many years in development, this series is a live action takeoff of the 2005 pop culture animated hit Nickelodeon series “Avatar: The Last Airbender” created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko—who unfortunately departed the series during development in 2020, but still gladly supported the new show-runner Albert Kim and the creative team.
There are many differences between the live action and the beloved animated series by way of excluded fan-favorite episodes and characters, and some graphic violence (that’s definitely not for children’s eyes). And while it can’t live up to every Avatar fan’s expectations, the live action succeeds in executing well with each bending element being brought to life with a beautiful combo of impressive, eye-popping CGI effects (made possible by DNEG, who also provided good visual work in the 2021 movie “Dune”) and martial arts, as well as the Asian culture-inspired world we love.
The series beautifully represents each nation and its influences from Asian and Indigenous cultures such as: Inuit culture inspiring the Water Tribes, Tibetan and Buddhist culture for the Air Nation, Imperial Japanese culture for the Fire Nation, Imperial Chinese culture, and now a huge additional mix of South Asian culture (Pakistani and Indian) for the Earth Kingdom, which can found in the architecture, cuisine, antiques, and ancient-looking relics in the background, clothing, shopping markets, and bending style in mix with martial arts.
The series also has a truly remarkable cast of talented young actors who embody the roles of each of their animated counterparts—and not just in authenticity but in heart and spirit with young Filipino-Canadian Gordon Cormier as the ever optimistic Avatar Aang who’s the last airbender. Cormier honestly brings in all Avatar Aang’s all-loving aspects with not just his youthful looks and being the same age as Aang (12), but his own sense of free-spiritedness and peaceful nature during a time of war combined with the pressures of being the Avatar. Such qualities tie so well with Aang’s character and bring him to life.
The 17 year old Mohawk-Canadian Kiawenttio Tarbell plays Katara, the only water bender in her tribe, in this adaptation. Unlike Katara’s usual characterization of being the mother-figure, the new series has her acting more like any 14 year old would act, but nonetheless Tarbell conveys Katara’s character well as Aang’s friend, confidant, and later love-interest as well as being the optimistic and compassionate girl who truly believes that Aang can save the world.
Tarbell amazingly brings the sweet heart, soul, determination and inspiration into Katara’s character, qualities fans greatly admire about the original. Overall the series brings out Katara’s painful grief over losing her mother to the Fire Nation, but gradually over the course of the first season, with her emotional journey and encountering many along the way, Katara becomes not only a master of waterbending, but also learns to channel the painful loss of mother as inspirational fuel to keep fighting for the ones she loves.
Tarbell herself deeply relates: “For me and my character, like watching the show (Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series) growing up and being able to see myself in the character and to be able to be that for other young Native girls is like so huge for me, it’s something that keeps me so grounded, the support of my community, it’s so important to me, and it is such a big responsibility.” she tearfully shared via the Netflix Instagram account.
Cherokee-American, Ian Ousley gives a brilliant performance as Sokka, Katara’s quick-witted, non-bending older brother. He has perfect comedic timing and overall sounds the most alike to his animated counterpart with his iconic “Sokkasm” and snark clearly owning this role, which has been held in great esteem by many fans online.
Last, but not least, is the Royal Fire Nation family starting with Dallas Liu as the banished, emotionally and physically scarred, but fierce Prince Zuko. His mission is to capture the Avatar in order to return home and regain his honor and return home to the fire nation and gain his no-good father’s respect.
Liu does remarkable work embodying Zuko’s determined, short-temperedness, yet fire to just be respected. He also shows great martial art skills as Liu has been practicing martial arts such as Japanese Shotokan from a young age, even competing in the North American Sport Karate Association. Such experience allows Liu to make Prince Zuko his own, just like cast mate Ousley with Sokka.
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee plays Zuko’s wise mentor and nurturing uncle Iroh, a fan-favorite character, who joins his nephew in his banishment and quest to capture the Avatar; however, unlike the rest of his ruthless and power-hungry family (not including Zuko and his mother) and the fire nation, he is a retired Fire Nation general, who has more open-mindedness and wants nothing but peace to be restored to all four nations.
Lee does a great job of portraying Iroh’s lighthearted and humorous nature with the wise advice he gives to his rather hot-headed nephew, Zuko, and his love of jasmine tea and all good food in general, but he also commands that strong sense of morality and humility that almost none of the Fire Nation has in these times of war and conquest.
Finally, we got both the sadistic tyrant Fire Lord Ozai (who wins an award for being the “Worst Father in the History of Fathers”) and Zuko’s manipulative sister Azula played by famous actor Daniel Dae Kim and Elizabeth Yu, respectively, whose characters get a bigger role in the first season of the live action adaptation than in the first season of the original series.
Having voiced two characters in the Avatar franchise, Kim gives a strong and intimidating presence as the cruel and ruthless Fire Lord Ozai, and though the main antagonist’s character is widely disliked for his negligence and cruelty towards Zuko (having given his own son his iconic scar on his left eye) and his lust for world conquest, Kim likewise is a great choice to play Ozai with his commanding stature and talent.
Yu succeeds in setting Azula’s debut ablaze throughout the season. Azula trains and plans to prove to her father that she should be rightful heir to the Fire Nation throne rather than her banished older brother all while having a few devious tricks up her sleeves that involve conspiring with the villainously ambitious Commander Zhao (Ken Leung) who becomes Zuko's bitter rival in his pursuit of the Avatar. With Azula’s plan coming into fruition, she remains determined to secure her place on the throne and make her mark on the world even if she leaves it in nothing but smokes and ashes like the ruthless Fire Lords before her.
Another thing to applaud about Yu’s performance is how she brings out two-faced attitude in Azula’s character who manages to paint herself as nothing but an innocent princess, when really she is a megalomaniacal girl with a mental instability, yet an intriguing and calculating wicked eye for causing trouble and deceit around her, and all in order to get everything she wants: to become the next Fire Lord.
Additionally, the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender live action has many other great characters in the line-up, even those that don’t even appear until later in Book 2: Earth and some from Book 3: Fire in the original animated series. The series also includes many great guest stars and some returning actors from the original such as Thalia Tran and Momona Tamada as Mai and Ty Lee, Azula’s good friends and later partners in capturing the Avatar, who are introduced in Book 2 (you could say the three of them together form Ozai’s Angels), original voice actor, Jame Sie as the unlucky background character, the Cabbage Merchant, and rapper and actor Utkarsh Ambudkar as King Bumi, an elderly, kooky, but strong earth bending king of Omashu's and Aang’s childhood friend from 100 years ago, and even “Community” star Danny Pudi as the Mechanist, a single father to Teo (Lucian-River Chauhan) a wheelchair-bound boy but a brave and capable flyer with his own air glider.
We even have the original voice of the free-spirited, historical-based Disney-Princess, Pocahontas, Irene Bedard as Yagoda, a waterbender healer from the Northern Water Tribe, and lastly, C. S. Lee, Yvonne Chapman, and Meegwun Fairbrother as past Avatars, Roku, Kyoshi, and Kuruk, who through each respective nation and even the spirit world guide Aang on his journey as the Avatar.
While the cast and crew make the Avatar live action a worthwhile experience for old and new fans, there are pacing concerns in the story, especially in the beginning. Also some characters were a bit underdeveloped and given less story time than in the first season of the animated show such as Aang just bending air and not even learning any basics of waterbending as he does in Book One of the original animated series, or how rushed Sokka (Ousley) and Suki’s (Maria Zhang) relationship is—their relationship in the original series is formed from Sokka’s early chauvinism against women being fighters which clashes with the strong Kyoshi Warrior leader, Suki, who takes satisfaction in beating him easily in a training demonstration, which gradually changes Sokka’s tune.
Nonetheless, the series does have plenty of world-building charm and overall gives great representation to Asian and Indigenous cultures.
“This show is basically based on Indigenous and Asian cultures, and I feel we really don’t have a lot of shows like it, so it’s kind of our first really big time to shine,” Cormier said in an interview on the Netflix Instagram account.
Hopefully, if the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” live action gets renewed for a second season we might get a chance to meet Toph, a certain blind yet strong earth bender who teaches Aang earth bending. And even if the show doesn’t get another season, let there be hope and support for the series creators and amazing actors to keep making sure all Asian and Indigenous people feel seen and heard.