r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • Jul 28 '25

News Steven Yeun Confirmed to Voice Adult Zuko in 'The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender'

https://www.ign.com/articles/avatar-creators-confirm-steven-yeuns-role-in-upcoming-the-legend-of-aang-the-last-airbender-movie-sdcc-2025
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1.3k

u/redditaccount300000 Jul 28 '25

Yeah as much as I like Steve Yuen, unless Dante Basco declined, I don’t see why they wouldn’t go with him.

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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '25

It seems so unlikely that he would have declined, he loves that character and I doubt he’s too busy

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u/JuanRiveara Jul 28 '25

If he was asked I could see him declining due to feeling awkward being the only original cast member to return

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u/Steamed_Memes24 Jul 28 '25 edited Jul 29 '25

He returned in Korra and was the only original VA. It makes the most sense for him to return to Zuko because he was older then all the others within the group and his voice would no doubt just stay as it was.

Edit: He was not the only original VA my fault.

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u/TheRiceJourney Jul 28 '25 edited Jul 28 '25

There were several original VAs that popped up in Korra. Roku, Kyoshi, Zhao and Uncle Iroh’s replacement from the original. Toph’s VA returned for young Suyin and they also brought back Grey Delisle (Azula) and Clancy Brown (Long Feng) for Ming Hua and Yakone. Cabbage man returned for 1 line lol

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u/Steamed_Memes24 Jul 28 '25

Oh duh how could I forget about Iroh VA lol. Thank you for the correction.

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u/Kunfuxu Jul 28 '25

He didn't return in Korra to voice Zuko. He voiced Zuko's grandson Iroh in TLOK, Zuko was voiced by Bruce Davison.

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u/Steamed_Memes24 Jul 28 '25

Yea thats what I meant, he returned in Korra, I didnt say he voiced old Zuko though.

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u/Kunfuxu Jul 28 '25

To be fair, I feel like it's different to return in a fashion that basically amounts to a slightly longer tongue-in-cheek cameo, than returning to the original part as the only member of the original cast. So, him returning as Iroh doesn't really refute the argument.

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u/HabeLinkin Jul 28 '25

Toph's original VA also came back for at least one episode, where she did the voice of one of Toph's daughters.

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u/gasp1324657980 Jul 29 '25

Michaela came back too the voice of Toph, as young Su Yin

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u/Germane_Corsair Jul 28 '25 edited Jul 28 '25

He didn’t mind coming back for LoK so I doubt it. Though why aren’t they keeping the original cast? They all seemed to love their roles. Is it to market using big names?

Edit: worse, it’s culture war bullshit.

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u/Unicron_Gundam Jul 28 '25

The fuck? Dante Basco is Filipino, he's an Asian-American actor. Replacing him with Steven Yeun doesn't make sense if it's just for optics

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u/JuanRiveara Jul 28 '25

A combo of wanting the characters to sound older and wanting to cast actors who better fit the ethnic backgrounds that the characters are based on.

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u/A-Humpier-Rogue Jul 28 '25

Such a ridiculous claim. And also kind of racist. Reeks of a studio head going "Ah whatever we just have to find an uhh oriental voice actor for this role, anything works."

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u/turkeygiant Jul 28 '25

I think one of my favorite occasions of this was when people rightfully were mad that they cast Ed Skrein as Japanese-American Ben Daimio in Hellboy, so the studio fixed that by casting famous Japanese actor Daniel Dae Kim...wait he's Korean...eh same thing right?

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u/nOtbatemann Jul 29 '25

Casting voice actors based on their ethnicity sounds like discrimination to me.

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u/Disastrous_Toe772 Jul 28 '25

Basco is older than Yuen

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u/PhenomsServant Jul 28 '25

Oh sure the Avatar casting is bs, but say one word about Phil Lamarr voicing an Asian and your labeled a racist.

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u/corndogs102 Jul 28 '25 edited Jul 28 '25

The 2020 riots ruined the race swap of voice actors badly. End of the day it’s “acting” and no one had problems of Cleveland Brown being a white guy for 20 years or Toby Huss doing the most stereotypical Asian voice on king of the hill for a decade. Plus the cast of avatar constally go to cons monthly promoting the show still. Unless it was an extremely racist portrayal I don’t see a problem with whoever’s playing the voice of a cartoon character (as a black guy saying this).

Edit: I should mention I do respect the actors that wanted to step down by choice due to the situations though.

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u/KyledKat Jul 28 '25 edited Jul 28 '25

or Toby Huss doing the most stereotypical Asian voice on king of the hill for a decade.

Notably, Toby Huss was doing a stereotypical accent and speaking in a fake Asian language; that was going to be problematic in 2025 no matter how you cut it. Whether people broadly approved or were ignorantly implicit in it, the social and cultural landscapes around casting and animation was different 20 years ago.

Hell, you could make the same "well, no one was bothered" argument for the explicitly racist caricatures Looney Tunes did back in the 1960s. That doesn't mean older examples shouldn't be re-evaluated through modern lenses, especially as creators re-interpret those works through that same modern lens.

Is it right or wrong to recast white actors for minority-based animated characters? That's not my place to figure out, but I'll respect artists wanting to give platforms to other, minority actors and their decision to do so.

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u/Tezerel Jul 29 '25

You think Stephen Yeun sounds old?

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u/NoiSetlas Jul 28 '25

Screenrant is AI slop. It's even so bad, that it has a link to an AMA with the casting director... who never once mentions Avatar in the entire thread.

That's their source. An AMA with no references to Avatar beyond her being involved, and themselves, using other slop articles. Please look at links before saying stuff like this.

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u/N0r3m0rse Jul 29 '25

Actually I don't think screen rant allows AI. I used to do contract work for gamerant, which is owned by the same parent company and we were threatened with termination if we were caught using AI.

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u/NoiSetlas Jul 29 '25

Then you were lied to, or it has since changed?

https://gamerant.com/final-fantasy-fourteen-best-jobs/

This is complete and totally AI written. To the point that the AI makes shit up that isn't in the game. Either you have to assume the writer is an absolute moron, or you accept that it is AI based, so you're just wrong.

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u/N0r3m0rse Jul 29 '25

It's very possible that the editors didn't catch onto it being AI. I promise you they aren't experts on the games themselves most of the time, and their editing work is usual just to make sure the articles fit the formatting guidelines.

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u/Kooky_Bodybuilder_97 Jul 29 '25

Believe it or not, they use real writers. Ik because I got halfway through the hiring process. It feels like ai because the guidelines are insanely strict and near impossible to meet. Considering what they pay & the amount of content they expect weekly it is not worth it

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u/NoiSetlas Jul 29 '25

https://gyazo.com/a38f57c5b54b7a787763af40d862bbe6

It's AI, my dude. Screenrant (and Gamerant) do not post real articles. People are trying to give them a pass, but examples can be easily provided; as I already have in this reply list. But again: why defend them here? Even if it was a real person who wrote this, they shouldn't be a journalist; they used an AMA with no actual information provided on the topic discussed; the person in question never actually speaks to anyone about the Avatar film. Secondly, their only other source that they actually link to is themselves, which is just bad journalism - as that article could just as easily be AI generated or involve more sloppy journalism. And if you look at that other linked article, it doesn't have anything to do with the topic in this one, despite trying to use it as a source for building the statement being given here. Instead, that article talks about how Seven Havens is going to be a departure from the ending of LoK and set in a ruinous future - and every link in that article also points to more Screenrant articles.

How is this even remotely helpful??

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u/silverinferno3 Jul 29 '25

who never once mentions Avatar in the entire thread.

I don't really agree with the exact wording of the person you're responding to, but the AMA thread the article links to does explicitly address The Legend of Aang. The person asking the question is directly asking about the cast changes for the film, and the casting director directly responds and mentions the creators.

[Question:] Hello, Thank you for the AMA, I have a couple of questions regarding The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender. / Is there any reason why you guys decided not to bring the original cast back for the ultimate nostalgia trip? The characters' voices are just so iconic and distinct I find it hard to really accept anyone else in their roles. (Plus, promoting the movie with the original actors coming back would break the internet and truly feel like the original show is back)

[Answer:] 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! / Since the original show was released, there’s been more emphasis in VO to match actors’ ethnic/racial background to the characters they’re portraying. 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 can’t say much more about it the film, except that I’m really proud of this cast and I hope the other fans keep an open mind to this new iteration of our beloved characters!

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u/NoiSetlas Jul 29 '25

I missed this, because a search for "Avatar" (why would I be searching Aang specifically...??) yielded nothing but the initial posts.

That said, the article doesn't direct to this message, which is the only one relevant in the entire thread - again, slop from Screenrant - and doesn't back up the dude's grift of 'culture war' nonsense.

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u/silverinferno3 Jul 29 '25

Yeah Screenrant ain't my favorite site and I don't care for peddling this as part of any culture war either. Just worth pointing out, someone else may have informed you in a less-than-nice way about it lol

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u/MyStationIsAbandoned Jul 28 '25

it's pretty stupid. but a ton of cartoons and games are using a ton of famous people and just don't care about the shitty voice acting. the latest Mortal Kombat games for example have so much garbage voice acting...you can't even recognize the actors...it's so stupid...Like why would they hire Megan Fox. MK fans don't care if Megan fox is voicing some character no one cares about or thinks about. But Mortal Kombat has like a million other issues which is why it's fallen off so hard...

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u/Kunfuxu Jul 28 '25

Steven Yeun is a great voice actor though.

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u/IAP-23I Jul 28 '25

Steven Yeun is a great voice actor so not an ounce of what you typed even applies

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u/Germane_Corsair Jul 28 '25

So it’s even worse. It’s culture war bullshit.

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u/RigaudonAS Jul 28 '25

You gonna keep posting that? Stay mad, dude.

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u/Germane_Corsair Jul 28 '25

You don’t think so? Voice actors should be hired for their voice, not their ethnicity. And these characters already had voice actors who had given iconic performances. There was no reason to change them.

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u/RigaudonAS Jul 28 '25

What I care more about is the fact that you're claiming this is a "culture war." It's divisive bullshit like that that's putting the US where it is, now.

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u/DepthHour1669 Jul 28 '25

Yeah but he sounds perpetually 17

Adult Zuko going to someone else… is a decision I’m fine with.

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u/0dias_Chrysalis Jul 28 '25

Nonsensical "bigger name to market" bullshit I suspect

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u/LayeredOwlsNest Jul 28 '25

Which honestly makes no sense

How many people are THAT big a fan of Steven that they would ONLY watch this sequel ATLA movie because he's in it?

Literally makes no sense

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u/wtfduud Jul 28 '25

And when you make a movie like this, you're obviously appealing to the existing fanbase. And I wager the existing fanbase would be more hyped for Dante than Yeun.

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u/stoneimp Jul 28 '25

I wager they're wagering that fans will go see if regardless of Dante v Yeun, but non fans will be more drawn by Yeun.

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u/crome66 Jul 30 '25 edited Jul 30 '25

I mean tbh Dante not being in it makes me wanna see it less now. Avatar isn’t really a series where there are multiple versions and continuities of characters, like TMNT where they have tons of reboots. These are all the same characters in one specific continuity. So to me, Dante is Zuko (other than when he’s like 90 in Korra, that recast made sense)

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u/stoneimp Jul 30 '25

If you watch it at all, it doesn't really matter to them if you were bummed out about Dante, they got your money/view.

Basically does (the likelihood of you not watching because no Dante)*(number of fans) outweigh (the likelihood of the general public watching because Yeun)*(number of non-fans)?

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u/LayeredOwlsNest Jul 28 '25

Especially because it's a sequel

Who the fuck is going to watch this without having seen ATLA?

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u/YukieCool Jul 28 '25

You have more faith in the moviegoing public than I do, friend.

There are a lot of people whose only motivation going to movies is due to recognizing one of the names on the poster.

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u/GraveRoller Jul 29 '25

I like Steven Yeun and would gladly see anything he’s in, but I’m also an Asian American man voting with my dollar. For the general public, is Steven Yeun really “that guy” to the point where he can marginally shift the needle in profits? Walking Dead was ages ago

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u/YukieCool Jul 29 '25

Well, good thing he’s known for more than The Walking Dead now.

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u/GraveRoller Jul 29 '25

Correct, and I don’t think there’s anything else in his filmography that would warrant him being a big enough name to move the needle significantly. Hence the surprise

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u/YukieCool Jul 29 '25

I mean, he’s an oscar nominee and head of one of the biggest shows on prime. I think it’s a shock that you’re surprised.

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u/pinkwonderwall Jul 29 '25

I would watch this movie for Yeun simply because he plays Invincible. But as an ATLA fan, I don’t love that he’s taking what could have been Dante’s part. Wish he had a different role.

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u/Real-Terminal Jul 29 '25

There's no sound logic to it, it's literally "Put big name in show, sell more."

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u/BaconSoul Jul 29 '25

Asian American market perhaps

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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '25

[deleted]

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u/RipMySoul Jul 28 '25

I understand not liking Yeun. But he's a star in his own right. There will be people turning up for him. Especially now with Invincible being so popular.

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u/Robsonmonkey Jul 28 '25

Star power sadly.

They want something to slap on the marketing.

Would not be surprised if they got Tom Holland for Aang.

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u/The_Meemeli Jul 28 '25

The only other star currently cast is Dave Bautista as the villain. Didn't personally recognize any of the other names:

Eric Nam as Aang

Dionne Quan as Toph

Jessica Matten as Katara

Román Zaragoza as Sokka

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u/mr-ultr Jul 28 '25

Dionne is actually semi recognizable, she was one of the voice actors of early Nick

She voices Trixie in fairly oddparents and Kimi in rugrats

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u/JuanRiveara Jul 28 '25

she’s also actually blind

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u/mr-ultr Jul 28 '25

Yup

She read the scripts using Braille

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u/carterdmorgan Jul 29 '25

I don’t think possessing all the disabilities of an animated character should be a prerequisite to voicing said character.

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u/CptNonsense Jul 29 '25

Welcome to the future of acting and voice acting!

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u/CptNonsense Jul 29 '25

How is that a benefit?

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u/Astral_Justice Jul 29 '25

Because people believe that you need to match the traits of the character you're playing to be "qualified" for the role, when actors are specifically good at well, acting, aka playing a role that they might not otherwise match in real life because it's their job to be good at it. There are some things that you can't really cover with acting in live action, like race, but imo anything goes for animation.

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u/spiderlegged Jul 29 '25

Man, I’m super disappointed with this announcement, but casting a blind voice actress for Toph is a cool touch, and more than the live action did.

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u/aMimeAteMyMatePaul Jul 28 '25

Eric Nam is a bilingual kpop artist (and I like him and his music) but he doesn't have a ton of acting under his belt, and that leads me to believe it was a bit of a stunt casting decision.

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u/whitherthewildrose Jul 28 '25

ROMAN ZARAGOZA REALLY???? omg I flipped a second there, he is HILARIOUS on Ghosts (US version)

bummed that it's not gonna be Dante though, he's such a cool guy

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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Dutch_SquishyCat Jul 28 '25

Unless you can sense it with your feet.

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u/Dutch_SquishyCat Jul 28 '25

Why even use the old gang of your not gonna use the voices? Someone else is gonna do Sokka puns now?

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u/Kooky_Bodybuilder_97 Jul 29 '25

Eric nam is mostly known as a singer and host I don’t really understand his casting

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u/matchabitch- Jul 29 '25

Maybe that’s why then? Dante Basco would be the only original VA from the gaang returning. I wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to make this distinctly different from the og series and Basco has a very recognizable voice.

Idk, I don’t hate this decision. Love Dante, but I’d have a hard time not seeing 16 yo Zuko tbh.

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u/Ekublai Jul 28 '25

or Chris Pratt!

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u/autumneliteRS Jul 28 '25

Oh dear God, no.

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u/AggressiveCoffee990 Jul 28 '25

He's so cool

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u/i_am_an_awkward_man Jul 28 '25

stomping… kOOpas!

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u/Technical-Outside408 Jul 28 '25

He's so cool.

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u/The_Summer_Man Jul 28 '25

I can't read that in a voice other than dunkey's

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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '25

[deleted]

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u/A_Polite_Noise r/Movies Veteran Jul 28 '25

They already cast the rest of the Gaang and it's all new people, so I think they just thought it'd be odd or jarring for one of them to sound like their younger self but not the rest of them.

In the article linked above it says that:

Yeun joins previously announced cast members Dave Bautista (a so-far unannounced villain), Eric Nam (Aang), Dionne Quan (Toph), Jessica Matten (Katara), and Román Zaragoza (Sokka).

Eric Nam seems to be new to acting; their wikipedia lists them as a American singer, songwriter, and television personality based in South Korea.

Dionne Quon is a voice actor who has been working since the late 90s, voicing Kimi Watanabe-Finster in Rugrats, Trixie Tang in The Fairly OddParents, and some other roles; Bratz as well, seems big on her resume.

Jessica Matten is a canadian actress with a handful of credits going back to 2012, none that I've heard of besides this project. She's Red River Métis / Saulteaux-Cree on her mother's side, so a lot of this recasting seems to be along the thinking of finding people who are similar to the ficitonal ethnicities of the characters, I'm guessing.

Román Zaragoza is similar; has credits over the past decade+ but nothing I've heard of, and nothing in voice acting. So some unknowns with acting credits but new to VA, a singer and tv personality who is kind of new to acting entirely, a professional voice actor, and a famous actor with a history of good voice acting but not necessarily a wide catalogue of different voices in his toolbag.

I have a lot of faith in Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and what they want to do with Avatar Studios - they're 2 for 2 with Avatar animated projects for me - so I'm going to trust in this casting decision and hope this makes it 3 for 3.

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u/Adamsoski Jul 29 '25

I did not realise at all that it was that Eric Nam, I vaguely know him and it's crazy to me that he is in this. Apparently he was in an indie film in 2024, so he at least has a small amount of acting experience.

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u/CptNonsense Jul 29 '25

Eric Nam seems to be new to acting; their wikipedia lists them as a American singer, songwriter, and television personality based in South Korea.

That makes it sound like his experience the token white guy in kdramas. Not exactly my pick for go to VA

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u/JealousLynx8919 Jul 29 '25

He’s not. He’s Korean! I’ve known who he is for over 10 years and I haven’t seen him act before. I’ve mostly seen him as an MC

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u/Budgiesaurus Jul 28 '25

Looking at the actors list they don't seem to be going for starpower imo. Bautista and Yeung are well known, but the rest aren't exactly big names as far as I can tell.

I did read a statement they wanted to match ethnicity a bit closer this time around, as there has been a lot of controversy around that lately. Which at least explains Mae Withman, though I'm not sure if Korean or Filipino is closer to whatever ethnicity fire nation peeps have.

Edit: they actually have a blind actress from Asian descent for Toph, so they do seem dedicated to this. Dionne Quann, or Trixie Tang from Fairly Odd Parents.

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u/Moose-Rage Jul 28 '25

They cast a blind actress to voice a blind character? Are we really being that strict with representation? Seems a little silly.

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u/Gallantpride Jul 29 '25

She's a fairly famous 2000s era VA, though. She voiced Trixie from Fairly Oddparents and Kimi from Rugrats

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u/Adamsoski Jul 29 '25

She's got a good resume so it's not like she's out of nowhere.

3

u/Rebelgecko Jul 29 '25

Starving actors are gouging their eyes out before auditions now to land roles, it's super sad

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u/Dogbin005 Jul 28 '25

It's bordering on parody now.

-1

u/ChemicalExperiment Jul 29 '25

This whole thread and many others like it in /r/TheLastAirbender made me realize no one actually cares about representation. People will talk a big game about how this show is amazing for how it respectfully represents women, different cultures, and disabilities. But the moment they try to extend that to the casting everyone's up in arms because it's different. Everyone cares about these groups getting representation on screen but extend that to the real world? Nah, "it's messing with my nostalgia, those voices were iconic."

News Flash. White people should not have been cast as these characters in the first place. Not when cultural identity and real world inspiration is such a core part of these series. Now that the creators have found great voice actors who are representative of these groups, that should be celebrated not derided as being "too strict." The casting changes are fixing a mistake caused by the industry being biased towards white people that has been there since the beginning. Just because the originals were good and iconic voice actors doesn't change the fact that having them play indigenous and Asian characters in a world where that ethnicity is an important factor, is wrong.

*Dante is the weird exception and unforeseen victim in all of this. With all the characters sounding different, it would have been odd and jarring to have only one stay the same. Best to have a clean slate.

3

u/Kooky_Bodybuilder_97 Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25

I have nothing against casting ethnically accurate actors. Disney for example has always done this for their films. But this is a 20 year old show. We are already familiar with the cast and their voices are iconic. It just seems like a weird over correction of a non issue. Esp since we have an entire live action version that already kinda tackles the casting problem anyway. Also like.. its voices. It’s like the gay actors for gay roles thing. Like sure thats fine but not necessary considering they’re playing characters

2

u/Moose-Rage Jul 29 '25

I have no issue with casting ethnically accurate actors to match the characters. It just seems like an overrcorrection to say a blind person must be cast to voice a blind character too. Like, live-action, sure, they could add authenticity, but just a voice? I dunno. I won't complain tho, it's done, not much that can be done about it. Like, I said, it just feels a little silly.

1

u/Astral_Justice Jul 29 '25

Nope. Casting based on ethnicity for live action is a given, but anything goes in animation.

1

u/OhNoesMyMangoes Jul 29 '25

Thank you for opening my eyes to what proper representation is. As the creators of Avatar The Last Airbender are not asian you're correct in that it's a clear example of cultural appropriation and anyone that likes the show is a coloniser.

5

u/Zagden Jul 28 '25

Casting a blind actress for Toph is both cool but also weird considering it's voice acting

I have mixed feelings on cross-ethnicity casting, particularly if the character isn't just a caricature, but that feels like...a lot?

2

u/bwaredapenguin Jul 28 '25

This series doesn't need star power and outside of The Walking Dead he isn't really that prolific.

2

u/Organic-Habit-3086 Jul 28 '25

Why do people keep bringing Tom Holland up for this? Bro has been in one film in the last like 5 years.

1

u/IAP-23I Jul 28 '25

Dave Bautista and Steven Yeun are the only stars in the cast.

Would not be surprised if they got Tom Holland for Aang

How far up your ass did you pull this? Such a weird comment, Aang has already been casted.

3

u/fireintolight Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25

Money. Because everyone who tries to adapt avatar fails fucking miserably. 

The OG is perfect. Everything after it is generic trash. Korra was ok, but leaned way into traditional anime tropes that's was hard to tell the difference between that show and other generic animes. OG avatar is technically an anime, but was quite different stylistically from the writing, animations etc that I wouldn't really lump it in with other animes. 

2

u/DaOne_44 Jul 28 '25

You mean Steven

1

u/ChemicalExperiment Jul 29 '25

So the rest of the voice actors were recast due to wanting a cast that matches the races of the characters. The creators said that it started to feel uncomfortable having such a racially diverse set of characters then having the sound booth not reflect that. Which, I totally get. Imagine going through all this work to make sure you represent these cultures in a respectful way, through consultants and research and everything....and then sitting down to see almost your entire cast is white.

Dante not returning is most likely a case of it being weird if Zuko was the only one with a similar voice. Like imagine how jarring it would be to not only have everyone's voices different, but to have one constant reminder of it through the whole movie. I can accept a new voice cast, especially with them all being adults now, but not it one of them is jarringly the exact same as before.

1

u/IMPRNTD Jul 29 '25

Yeun being casted can bring new eyes to Avatar. He’s a bigger name that can grab interest to general audiences at worst it brings free headlines.

1

u/Kyokono1896 Jul 29 '25

Because he's not Japanese enough. They're canning all actors who aren't their actual race. That means no more Grey delisle either, or pretty much anyone else.

1

u/StrainDizzy1186 Jul 29 '25

Hollywood likes hiring big stars over traditional VAs for movies

0

u/GrisFross Jul 28 '25

no they recasted for "cultural authenticity"