Age Comparison: The Last Airbender Cast vs Their Characters

Article Overview

Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender just released its first trailer, offering a glimpse into the highly-anticipated live-action adaptation. The trailer showcases the revered locations from the beloved series and introduces the fresh cast, raising curiosity about how closely their ages align with their respective characters.

Gordon Cormier, who portrays Avatar Aang, and Kiawentiio, who plays Katara, closely resemble their characters in terms of age. On the other hand, Ian Ousley as Sokka and Dallas Liu as Prince Zuko have noticeable age differences. This suggests that Netflix's adaptation may have adjusted the ages of certain characters, such as Sokka and Suki, to align better with the actors' ages.

Netflix has just released the first trailer for Avatar: The Last Airbender, sparking curiosity about the age differences between the cast members and their characters. This trailer showcases various aspects of the highly anticipated Netflix adaptation, including the iconic locations from the original Nickelodeon animation and a sneak peek at the impressive live-action Bending moves. By delving into a breakdown of the trailer, it becomes evident that the upcoming 2024 project will skillfully bring the world of the Four Nations to stunning life.

In addition, the trailer offers a glimpse at the core characters of The Last Airbender, shedding light on how the Netflix adaptation portrays these beloved figures from the Nickelodeon series. As one among many future installations in the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise, this live-action adaptation artfully reimagines these cherished characters. Naturally, upon seeing these initial portrayals, questions arise about how closely the actors align with the ages of their counterparts in the original show.

Gordon Cormier as Avatar Aang

Formerly Voiced By Zach Tyler Eisen In The Original Avatar: The Last Airbender

Kiawentiio as Katara

Portraying the eponymous protagonist in the Netflix adaptation of The Last Airbender is Gordon Cormier, who embodies the role of Avatar Aang. In the original series, Aang's age presents an intriguing anomaly. Despite displaying the appearance and behavior of a 12-year-old child, Aang's chronological age is actually 112 years. This peculiarity stems from his prolonged encasement within an icy cocoon for a century before emerging as the Last Airbender. While little is divulged about Cormier's personal life due to his limited acting background prior to joining Netflix's The Last Airbender, he was born in 2009, which aligns him with Aang's age of 12 during the commencement of filming for the project in 2021.

Formerly Voiced By Mae Whitman In The Original Avatar: The Last Airbender

Another crucial member of the central trio in Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender is Katara, who serves as the sole surviving waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe and also happens to be Sokka's younger sibling. In the highly-anticipated live-action adaptation by Netflix, the role of Katara will be portrayed by Kiawentiio, a Canadian-American actress hailing from Akwesasne. In the original animated series, Katara's age exceeds that of Aang's when the narrative commences, as she embarks on her journey at the age of 14. Fascinatingly, Kiawentiio, born in April 2006, was merely 15 years old during the commencement of filming.

Ian Ousley as Sokka

Formerly Voiced By Jack DeSena In The Original Avatar: The Last Airbender

Dallas Liu as Prince Zuko

The third and final member of The Last Airbender's main trio is Sokka. He is Katara's older brother and the oldest male in the Southern Water Tribe after his father and the other men leave to fight the Fire Nation. Despite his young age of 15 at the beginning of the show, Sokka takes on the responsibility of leading his tribe and caring for his younger sister. In Netflix's The Last Airbender, filming began when Ian Ousley, who was born in 2002, was 19 years old, creating the largest age difference between the actor and the character in the series.

Formerly Voiced By Dante Basco In The Original Avatar: The Last Airbender

The primary antagonist of Netflix's The Last Airbender season 1 is Zuko, the exiled Prince of the Fire Nation. He embarks on a mission to find the Avatar in order to restore his honor and earn a welcome back home. Zuko is 16 years old at the start of the story, slightly older than the three main characters. The actor portraying Zuko, Dallas Liu, was born in 2001, making him 20 years old when filming for the project commenced.

Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as General Iroh

Formerly Voiced By Mako & Greg Baldwin In The Original Avatar: The Last Airbender

The caring and respectful uncle of Zuko in Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender is Iroh, who accompanies his nephew on a quest to find the Avatar, looking out for him along the way. While the exact age of Iroh is never clarified in the show, it is generally assumed that he is between 50 and 60 years old. This assumption aligns with the age of Iroh's live-action actor, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, who was 49 when filming for Netflix's The Last Airbender began in 2021.

Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai

Formerly Voiced By Mark Hamill In The Original Avatar: The Last Airbender

The primary antagonist of The Last Airbender series is Fire Lord Ozai, the ruthless dictator of the Fire Nation who seeks to conquer the world and eliminate the Avatar. Similar to his older brother Iroh, the exact age of Ozai is left up to interpretation in the original story. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that Ozai is approximately between 40 and 50 years old. In Netflix's adaptation of The Last Airbender, Daniel Dae Kim portrays Ozai, despite being 53 years old at the start of filming. Interestingly, Kim is older than the actor who portrays his younger brother in the show, Lee.

Ken Leung as Commander Zhao

Formerly Voiced By Jason Isaacs In The Original Avatar: The Last Airbender

Another character appearing in season 1 of Netflix's The Last Airbender is Commander Zhao, who serves as a minor antagonist. Zhao, a rival of Zuko and enemy of the Avatar, is determined to capture the latter in order to please the Fire Lord. Although The Last Airbender does not explicitly mention Zhao's age, contextual hints suggest that he is around 35–40 years old. Surprisingly, Ken Leung, the actor playing Zhao in Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender, was actually 51 at the start of production. Despite this significant age difference, Leung's youthful appearance enables him to effectively portray the character of Zhao.

Maria Zhang as Suki

Formerly Voiced By Jennie Kwan In The Original Avatar: The Last Airbender

One of the supporting characters in the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender is Suki, a skilled warrior from Kyoshi Island who develops a close bond with Sokka. In the series, Suki and Sokka are depicted as being the same age, 15 years old. However, in the upcoming Netflix adaptation, Maria Zhang takes on the role of Suki at the age of 22 during filming. This age difference between Zhang and the original actor, Ousley, who plays Sokka, suggests that the ages of the characters may be adjusted in the adaptation to better align with the performers.

Elizabeth Yu as Princess Azula

Formerly Voiced By Grey DeLisle In The Original Avatar: The Last Airbender

Completing the main cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender season 1 is Elizabeth Yu, who will be portraying Princess Azula. Azula, the manipulative and narcissistic younger sister of Zuko, shares the same age as Katara: 14 years old. In Netflix's adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Elizabeth Yu takes on the role of Azula. While filming began when Yu was 19, making her approximately five years older than her character.

Editor's P/S

As a Gen Z fan, I am excited about the upcoming Netflix adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. The original animated series was a huge part of my childhood, and I am eager to see how the new live-action version will bring the story to life.

I think the casting choices for the main characters are spot-on. Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio, and Ian Ousley all look like they could be the real-life versions of Aang, Katara, and Sokka. I am also impressed by the fact that the actors are all around the same age as their characters. This will help to make the show feel more authentic and believable.

One thing that I am curious about is how the show will handle Aang's age. In the original series, Aang is 112 years old, but he appears to be a 12-year-old boy. This is because he was frozen in an iceberg for 100 years. I am not sure how the show will explain this in the live-action version.

Overall, I am very excited about the upcoming Netflix adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. I think the show has the potential to be a huge hit with both old and new fans of the franchise.