Summary

New Avatar: The Last Airbender film to feature original characters as adults in a standalone post-series story.
Casting change due to the need to match the actors' ethnicity with characters from the fictional world.
Fan reaction to casting change is mixed; nostalgia and voice maturation factors are considered.

The beloved cast from 2005’s Avatar: The Last Airbender series won't be returning for Paramount and Avatar Studios’ animated feature film, The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender. Now we know why.

The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender was officially titled so in early April at Paramount’s CinemaCon. The film will be the first of three standalone post-Avatar: The Last Airbender animated films that take place many years after 12-year-old Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai and stopped a hundred-year war, meaning all the characters are past their teens and are in adulthood. That is about all that is known about the film’s synopsis. The quartet of Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph, originally voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman, Jack De Sena, and Jessie Flowe,r will be taken over by Eric Nam, Jessica Mattan, Roman Zaragoza, and Dionne Quan. Lauren Montgomery and William Mata are pegged as co-directors, and a release date of January 30, 2026 has been scheduled.

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By Alex Lawrence

Avatar: The Last Airbender's Ethnic Background Necessitated The Voice Actor Switch

Fan Response Is Divisive

Fans naturally raised questions about the choice not to bring back the original actors, and casting director Jenny Jue has provided an answer…or answers. Replying to one such fan on Reddit, Jue, who is also the casting director for Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2, The Wedding Banquet, and Snowpiercer, cited that the need to “match actors’ ethnic/racial background to the characters they’re portraying” has grown since 2005. Jue also had one plea for fans: approach the new version with “an open mind.”.

ATLA is a fictional world, but there are cultural influences for each nation/kingdom, and we wanted to explore the talent from those groups…I told Mike and Bryan that I understood how important it was to get this right for them and for the fans~ because I’m a fan too, also my favorite IP!.

Actors who voiced a character as a teen being denied another chance in a distant sequel isn’t unheard of. The Incredibles 2 recast Dash because Spencer Fox’s voice had an overly mature touch 14 years after the first film; Inside Out 2 replaced Riley’s voice with an older actor, as did Finding Dory for Nemo.

Audience reaction, as always, is quite difficult to perfectly predict. One might say that changing the actors undermines the nostalgic element at play in The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender. But that’s assuming anyone watching would so eagerly notice if not told. Remember, twenty years can do a lot to any voice. Besides, not many viewers noticed Greg Baldwin replacing the late Mako Iwamatsu as General Iroh; those who didn’t make so much noise about it to alert the unaware, that is.

The best approach may be a mix of both—in other words, retaining some of the original actors. Dante Basco’s distinct voice as Zuko is a nostalgic switch waiting to be turned on.

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Release Date: 2005 - 2008
Network: Nickelodeon
Showrunner: Michael Dante DiMartino
Directors: Giancarlo Volpe, Ethan Spaulding, Lauren MacMullan, Dave Filoni, Joaquim Dos Santos, Anthony Lioi
Writers: Tim Hedrick, Elizabeth Welch Ehasz, Joshua Hamilton, James Eagan, Joann Estoesta, Nick Malis, May Chan, Katie Mattila
Franchise(s): Avatar