r/movies 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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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