In 2018, Netflix announced that a live-action adaptation of the groundbreaking Nickelodeon show, Avatar: The Last Airbender, was in the works at the streaming service. Finally, three years later, principal photography is underway in Vancouver, Canada on the largest virtual production stage in North America. The immersive soundstage was created by Pixomondo (PXO) Virtual Production and has 23,000 square feet for creatives to play in.

Following in the steps of recent content like The Mandalorian and Netflix's The Midnight Sky, new showrunner Albert Kim hopes to bring stunning visuals to homes across the world via this cutting-edge technology. However, after a truly atrocious first adaptation attempt, and the departure of original creators on the series, can this ship still sail? What information do fans have so far and how excited should they let themselves get?

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Fans will be happy to hear Netflix has kept the promise it made to the original creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, by not white-washing the iconic cast of characters. The creators were devastated by the choices in casting for M. Night Shyamalan's film and made it clear the new production wouldn't see the light of day if their demand wasn't met. Netflix, in turn, committed to not casting any white actors in the main cast.

With moral parameters set in place, Netflix turned to a group of unknown actors to cast the young heroes and Zuko. Leading the cast is Gordon Comer (The Stand), 12, who will be playing the role of everyone's favorite Airbender, Aang. His best friends, Katara and Sokka, will be played by Netflix alums Kaiwentiio (Anne With An E) and Ian Ousley. Rounding out the youth of the cast is martial arts champion turned actor, Dallas Liu (Shang-Chi), playing Prince Zuko. Casting talented and capable unknowns in these roles was a smart move on the producer's part. These roles are iconic and bringing in actors who audiences will fall in love with for the first time while playing characters they know very well is a strong decision.

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However, when it comes to adult casting, putting lesser-known actors in the roles could be risky. Thankfully, some incredibly strong, fan-favorite actors were chosen to fill the roles of the elder members of the cast. Most notably, Daniel Dae Kim (Lost, Hawaii Five-O) will be playing the series' big bad, Fire Lord Ozai. Many fans are ecstatic about this casting as Kim is an incredibly underrated actor. His poise and complete control of his characters will make for a terrifying portrayal of the warlord.

Announced several days before filming began, was Kim's Convenience actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee.  The actor will be joining the cast as Uncle Iroh. When speaking on his time so far on set during a Livestream, Lee had only great things to say. "When you see a wall of faces that look like your own, it's amazing and with something like Airbender, you can't go any other way. There's that deep consideration when it comes to casting and everybody that's up on that wall too, it's not just because of the color of their skin... Gordon Cormier who's playing Aang, he is a revelation. The actress Kiawentiio who plays Katara, is a crafted actress. Ian Ousley who's playing Sokka, he's going to steal every scene he's in. And Dallas Liu playing Zuko, I am so looking forward to working with him. We had a rehearsal today and he just blew me away. There's going to be an incredible amount of heart, fun, and excitement to this series and I think the fans are going to love it."

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Zuko and Ozai in Avatar the Last Airbender

There is a lot that goes into a show beyond casting. In action-heavy productions, there are many other pieces that must come together to make a solid show. From the fight choreography to the visual effects, there are many hoops showrunners must jump through when devoting their life to a project. In terms of the combat in the show, producers certainly kept this in mind when putting together the ensemble. In the case of Dallas Liu, he is a former NASKA and ISKA world champion. Having a main cast member who can actually execute the fight choreography adds a real depth to the visceral nature of the action.

Productions that have used soundstages similar to PXO's have gone onto great visual success. By utilizing the 3,000 LED panels, creators will be able to rapidly add and make changes to their visual style while shooting. This form of immersive filmmaking has been seen in shows and films like Solo, The Mandalorian and Game of Thrones.

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Avatar-The-Last-Airbender-Zuko

While there is certainly a lot to be excited about, there is one major elephant in the room for the live-action Avatar series. In August of 2021, original creators DiMartino and Konietzko announced via Instagram that they had left the show. When reading their thoughts on the decision to leave, it's clear the partner's hearts were broken by having to leave the production. They wished no animosity on the production, but simply stated Netflix didn't meet its end of the bargain. After their departure, Konietzko and DiMartino joined ViacomCBS and Paramount to begin operating Avatar Studios, where they plan to continue building out the world they brought to life.

It remains to be seen whether or not the live-action series is good. One thing is for sure, though, it already looks to be better than the live-action film, and that's a good thing.

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