'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Animated Film Announces Cast, Includes Unretired Dionne Quan

Dave Bautista will voice the villain in the film working under the title 'Aang: The Last Airbender'

Paramount had its turn to present at CinemaCon Thursday afternoon, showing off teasers and first footage for Transformers One, Gladiator II, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3, among others. But of the news that came directly from it, among the biggest has to be the announcement of the cast of the animated Avatar: The Last Airbender movie from Avatar Studios, working under the title Aang: The Last Airbender, following the sneak peek art shown at last year’s event.

Plot details have been publicly non-existent but it stars adult-age Avatar Aang and his friends, including possible wife Katara, her brother Sokka, his Earthbending master Toph, and Firelord Zuko. A casting call for Toph reveals them in their early-to-mid 20s. Dante Basco was the first voice actor confirmed long ago already, reprising his role as Zuko, and the other stars would be cast with more racial consciousness than seen in the 2012-2014 sequel series The Legend of Korra, which saw D.B. Sweeney, Eva Marie Saint, Bruce Davison, Philece Sampler, and briefest of all, Chris Hardwick in the roles. Now, we know who’s voicing the rest of the team, and while roles weren’t disclosed for most of them, they were easily deduced. It starts with the revealed Eric Nam, a K-Pop artist whose third English album released in September, as Aang. Jessica Matten was deduced as Katara (though she previously confirmed this and subsequently deleted it), and Roman Zaragoza as Sokka. Matten has appeared on Burden of Truth in a significant role and is a series regular on the AMC series Dark Winds, while Zaragoza stars on CBS’s Ghosts remake as Sasappis, a Native American ghost who previously lived in the 16th century. Dave Bautista, the ex-wrestler turned movie star as Drax in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and as Beast Rabban in the Dune movies, and roles in other films like Blade Runner 2049, Glass Onion, and Knock at the Cabin, is voicing the villain, who hasn’t been revealed yet. And then, to everyone’s surprise was Dionne Quan’s name in the cast list. Everyone knew she was Toph.

Dionne Quan is a name very familiar to Nickelodeon fans, many of whom watched the original 2005-2008 Avatar animated series. She's an Asian-American actress who, born with optic nerve hypoplasia, is legally blind. Her two biggest voice acting roles were as Kimi Finster in the Rugrats franchise from her debut in Rugrats in Paris: The Movie until the end of All Grown Up and the original continuity, and Trixie Tang on The Fairly OddParents. These roles debuted 5 months apart, and Trixie’s last speaking role was in 2011. Quan’s last voice role was a 2015 episode of Curious George. For the last decade, it seemed like she had retired, but now she's back to voice one of the biggest blind characters in all of animation.

The film is the first of three announced from Avatar Studios, formed by original series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino after departing Netflix’s live-action adaptation, which ultimately premiered in February and has had its full story greenlit for a three-season run. The initial film slate was then announced in June 2022, with Aang eventually dated for October 10, 2025. Lauren Montgomery, who worked on both previous series, is directing Aang, with William Mata co-directing. DiMartino and Konietzko are executive producing alongside Eric Coleman.

Source: Variety