'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Netflix Series Gives First Look At Beloved Supporting Characters

Larry, Danny Pudi’s on Avatar the Last Airbender. And what happened to Jet?

Today is the winter solstice, and with Albert Kim, the executive producer and showrunner of Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Nicktoon Avatar: The Last Airbender, acknowledging such, it was clear something was coming. That’s exactly what happened, as the show, the streamer, and Kim shared first-look images of Suki, Jet, the Mechanist played by Danny Pudi, and more.

The official logline reads “Alongside his newfound friends Sokka and Katara, siblings and members of the Southern Water Tribe, Aang embarks on a fantastical, action-packed quest to save the world and fight back against the fearsome onslaught of Fire Lord Ozai. But with a driven Crown Prince Zuko determined to capture them, it won’t be an easy task.” 12-year-old Aang, played by Gordon Cormier awakens to Katara and Sokka, played by Kiawentiio and Ian Ousley, from a self-induced century-long icy stasis to discover that his airbending people have been genocided. The Fire Nation is encroaching on global domination. As the Avatar, who can bend all four elements known at the time, Aang must bring balance to the world. Zuko is played by Dallas Liu, and his father Fire Lord Ozai is played by Daniel Dae Kim, who had a few voice roles on the animated series.

Not only do we have the Community and DuckTales alum as The Mechanist, who originally appeared toward the end of the season in “The Northern Air Temple” before returning for season 3’s “The Day of Black Sun” two-parter, but there’s Casey Camp-Horinek as Katara and Sokka’s grandmother, affectionately called Gran Gran. Her real name is Kanna, and she in the original series only appeared in the opening two episodes. There’s also Arden Cho as bounty hunter June, from “Bato and the Water Tribe”, Maria Zhang as Kyoshi Warrior Suki, Sokka’s eventual love interest; and Sebastien Amoruso as Earth Kingdom rebel Jet, who has an infamously ambiguous fate. Suki is seen with a new character named Yukari, the mayor of a small Kyoshi village. She’s played by Tamlyn Tomita.

Credit: Robert Falconer/Netflix © 2023

Both Suki and Jet have more significant recurring roles beyond season 1, at least in the original telling. Who knows how much more active a role Azula, played by Elizabeth Yu, has at this stage of this version of the story will factor. Also in the cast are Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Ozai’s older brother (and Azula and Zuko’s uncle) General Iroh, and Inhumans’s Ken Leung as Commander Zhao.

Kim recently admitted in an Entertainment Weekly interview how daunting it was when original creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko left the project in 2020 after finding they “couldn't control the creative direction of the series” and that it wouldn’t end up being the show they wanted to make. “You'd have to be an idiot not to be intimidated a little bit,” he says. “My first reaction after ‘Hell yeah!’ was ‘Holy s---! Do I really want to do this? Is there a way to improve upon the original?’ Whenever you tackle something that's already beloved by millions of fans, you have to ask yourself those questions.” He also described that characters and events won’t be played the same way as the original series. So don't immediately expect June to pop up in the live-action Avatar in the same way she did on the animated show. "We had to sometimes unravel storylines and remix them in a new way to make sense for a serialized drama," he said. Konietzko and DiMartino are now working on several projects for the franchise at Avatar Studios, including a theatrical film set for release in October 2025.

Jabbar Raisani and Michael Goi are executive producers and directors alongside directors Roseanne Liang (also a co-executive producer) and Jet Wilkinson. Dan Lin and Lindsey Liberatore serve as executive producers from Rideback. Avatar: The Last Airbender premieres its 8-episode first season on Netflix on February 22, 2024.

Sources: Variety, Entertainment Weekly