Netflix recently announced the main cast members for its upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action series, but a few characters were conspicuous by their absence, and one of them has now been added to the ensemble.
THR reports that Daniel Dae Kim (Lost, Hellboy) will play Fire Lord Ozai, Zuko and Azula's nefarious father who was voiced by Mark Hamill in the original animated series. This take on the villain is described as "the ruthlessly-driven leader of the Fire Nation who demands everyone live up to his impossible standards, especially his teen son, Prince Zuko. Ozai’s drive to conquer and unite the world under firebender rule is a family burden — he believes that it’s his destiny to finish a war started by his ancestors."
Kim is no stranger to the franchise, having previously voiced General Fong in season 2 of the animated series and Hiroshi Sato in The Legend of Korra. He joins Gordon Cormier (The Stand) as Aang, Kiawentiio (Rutherford Falls) as Katara, Ian Ousley (Physical) as Sokka, and Dallas Liu (Shang-Chi, Pen15) as Zuko.
Original series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko were on board, but parted ways with the project following creative differences. Albert Kim (Sleepy Hollow, Nikita) has now been tapped to take over as showrunner, and will serve as the central writer and exec producer alongside Dan Lin (The Lego Movie, Aladdin), Lindsey Liberatore (Walker) and Michael Goi (Swamp Thing). Roseanne Liang will direct along with Goi and Jabbar Raisani.
Old director M. Night Shyamalan infamously attempted a live-action feature back in 2010 which was universally panned by fans and critics, so here's hoping Netflix's take finds more success. There is also a new Avatar animated movie coming to theaters, which you can find more details on here.
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.