Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024 TV series) – Selective Ranks

In 2018, Netflix made waves with the announcement of a “reimagined” live-action remake of the beloved animated series, Avatar, scheduled to commence production in 2019. The original creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, were initially slated to serve as executive producers and showrunners for the project. However, in June 2020, the creators made a surprising exit from the series, citing creative differences. This revelation came to light when DiMartino penned an open letter on his personal website on August 12, 2020. The duo pointed to disparities in their creative vision for the show compared to Netflix’s and highlighted a “negative and unsupporting” environment during their tenure with the studio. Despite their departure, DiMartino and Konietzko retained writing credits for the inaugural and concluding episodes of the series.

In August 2021, Netflix officially introduced Albert Kim as a writer, executive producer, and showrunner for the project. Kim, in a blog post, expressed his initial skepticism about taking on the series but grew increasingly intrigued by the prospect. He emphasized the opportunity to depict bending in a more tangible and visceral manner than ever before. Kim underscored the guiding principle of “authenticity” throughout the creative process, emphasizing its application to the storyline, characters, and cultural influences. Alongside Kim, executive producers Dan Lin, Lindsey Liberatore, Michael Goi, and Roseanne Liang were named, with Goi and Liang also slated to direct episodes of the series.

Reports surfaced indicating that each episode’s production cost exceeded $15 million, with a standard season comprising eight episodes.

Before their departure, DiMartino and Konietzko had vowed to pursue “culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed casting.” Konietzko specifically mentioned his desire to include Dante Basco, the original voice actor for Zuko. Subsequent to leaked casting reports, Netflix officially disclosed the main cast in August 2021, featuring Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley, and Dallas Liu in the roles of Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko, respectively. Kim saw this as an opportunity to showcase Asian and Indigenous characters as fully realized individuals, not confined to the animated realm but existing in a world analogous to our own.

In November 2021, Daniel Dae Kim, known for his previous roles in the animated series, joined the cast as Fire Lord Ozai. The same month, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Lim Kay Siu, and Ken Leung were announced as cast members, portraying Iroh, Gyatso, and Commander Zhao, respectively. December brought more additions to the ensemble, with Elizabeth Yu, Yvonne Chapman, Tamlyn Tomita, Casey Camp-Horinek, and Maria Zhang joining as Azula, Avatar Kyoshi, Yukari, Gran Gran, and Suki, respectively.

April 2022 witnessed the inclusion of Arden Cho and Momona Tamada as June and Ty-Lee. C. S. Lee joined in the same month, cast as Avatar Roku. June 2022 added A Martinez and Amber Midthunder to the lineup as Master Pakku and Princess Yue. July 2022 revealed that James Sie would reprise his role as the Cabbage Merchant from the animated series. In September 2022, additional roles were unveiled, with George Takei voicing Koh the Face Stealer and Randall Duk Kim lending his voice to Wan Shi Tong. Takei had previously voiced the Fire Nation Prison Rig Warden, while Duk Kim had a minor role in the 2010 live-action film The Last Airbender.