Kim’s Convenience‘s Paul Sun-Hyung Lee to play Uncle Iroh in Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series
Netflix also announced that production on the series has commenced
Aux News Avatar: The Last Airbender
Netflix is going forward with its live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series—regardless of whether fans and the original creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko want it to or not. The streaming giant announced the primary cast back in August, and now we know which actors will play three of the supporting characters, too.
Fan-favorite and tea-loving Uncle Iroh will be played by Kim’s Convenience star Paul Sun-Hyung Lee. It’s a perfect fit for Zuko’s endearing uncle, since, despite the show’s writing flaws towards the end, Sun-Hyung Lee managed to always make his Kim’s Convenience character Mr. Kim charming.
Lim Kay Siu, who had roles in Anna And The King and Nightwatch, will play Aang’s former mentor Gyatso. Ken Leung, who played Admiral Statura in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Jarin in Old, will take on the role of villainous Fire Nation military officer Zhao, who becomes one of Aang’s first enemies.
Netflix previously announced that Gordon Cormier will play Aang, Kiawentiio will be Katara, Ian Ousley is Sokka, Dallas Liu plays Zuko, and Daniel Dae Kim will be Fire Lord Ozai.
The streaming service also announced that the series began production and is being filmed 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 series’ showrunner Albert Kim released a statement, saying, “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.”
There’s no word yet on when Netflix anticipates the series to premiere, though it’s rumored to be slated for a 2022 release.
15 Comments
Fuck yeah!!
All great castings. Most excited for Ken Leung as Zhao.
I mean, he has big shoes to fill with the role previously played by… Aasif Mandvi? My kid was watching the M. Night Shyamalan version the other night, and the big twist seems to have been that he miscast the entire film.
Great actors, but why are the words live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender existing in the world.
I’m all for it if it means when I type in “last airbender live action” this version comes up and not the movie. We deserve that at least
Money.
You should check out the leaked changes to the story that they’re making, just in case you wanted to ruin your day a little more.
Wait… they’re making… I didn’t know… … of course they are.
They should have cast Appa as Appa, but I suppose Iroh will do.
I definitely thought this was already well into production.
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee is the Korean James Earl Jones. That man can keep a movie afloat on his voice alone. Dammit! Now I gotta watch.
A few days ago my friends and I were discussing the question of Iroh’s casting, and I threw Lee’s name out there. So I guess what I’m saying is, you’re welcome
As a 40 year old man and longtime fan of Kim’s Convenience, one of the most recent shocks to my system came from learning that Appa/Paul Sun Hyung Lee is only 49.
This is going to suck. Netflix, wtf are you doing?!! Stop taking literally perfect pieces of art and remaking them. Start with flawed stuff, or lesser known, or stuff that didn’t live up to its potential. This is so fucking stupid.
It doesn’t make a ton of sense to me, given that the biggest business reason to make it is the built in fanbase, but most of the fanbase is already totally soured on the idea of a live action adaptation. I don’t get why they wouldn’t make a series for something that’s beloved and hasn’t gotten adapted yet, like Tortall. I mean, they’d inevitably mess that up too, probably, but it’d be interesting to find out how, at least?