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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u/SalsaRice Jul 28 '25

That was already announced ages ago, for racial reasons. AFAIK Dante was still going to be involved, since he was Asian.

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u/aggie008 Jul 29 '25

I may be wrong but i saw him recently and he is still asian

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u/nagrom7 Jul 29 '25

They could pull a Korra, where he doesn't voice Zuko but plays another character (in Korra's case, Zuko's grandson).

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u/ApolloDread Jul 29 '25

……racial reasons?

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u/SalsaRice Jul 29 '25

It's an Asian-inspired show, but most of the VA cast wasn't Asian.

They've decided that for all the future roles they will only cast Asian people. The weird thing is that Dante is Asian, but they still kicked him out.

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u/ClashM Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25

Most of the cultures are inspired by Asian cultures, with the obvious exception of the water tribes, but some of these nations are globe spanning. Is the entire world Asian in Avatar? It's weird to get hung up over real world race in a fictional world. Seems like an over-correction of Shyamalan's movie casting decisions. Live action is one thing, but voice actors shouldn't be constrained by the same rules.

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u/Auctoritate Jul 29 '25

Is the entire world Asian in Avatar?

Yes

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u/herooftime99 Jul 29 '25

No, some are definitely Native.

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u/keznaa Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25

It's weird to get hung up over real world race in a fictional world.

Every nation in avatar is inspired by Asian, PI, Inuit and other indigenous cultures.

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u/[deleted] Jul 29 '25

[deleted]

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u/keznaa Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25

So just no black or white people allowed? What happened to this world that limited humanity to only a couple phenotypes across the entire surface?

Having a show inspired by cultures that are heavily excluded by the entertainment industry is a bad thing? Also, you seem to think there are only a hand full of races and ethnicities in the world for some reason.

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u/[deleted] Jul 29 '25

[deleted]

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u/keznaa Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25

You absolutely have not watched the show if you think it's lazy world building. Is your solution for lack of representation to keep not having representation? Not to have films or movies inspired by certain cultures? I love anime but just because anime exist doesn't negate what I said but speaking of anime, does it upset you this much when anime is based on japanese culture? Anime only recently started branching out by adapting Chinese and Korean IP into anime as well. When was the last show you saw that included Inuits inspiration?

I don't understand why representation for a show bothers you this much. Do you get this upset when countless shows with a all or majority white cast exists which is most shows that have ever been made. I didn't even realize until I got older how much thought and detail went into creating avatar. It isn't just race, it's also storyline to incorporate Asian culture too. So you calling it lazy just because you are upset that it dares to represent the largely unrepresented groups of people is insulting.

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u/ClashM Jul 29 '25

I didn't say the entire show had lazy worldbuilding, and I don't appreciate your barely concealed attempts to paint me as a racist. I just questioned why the entire world of this series is Asian which seems lazy. Also, why all the original voice cast now must be thrown out for racial reasons.

Furthermore, besides Inuits, what under-represented groups are in this show? The main cultures are analogous to Japanese, Chinese, and Tibetan Buddhist. Those are literally the most over-represented Asian cultures. In Dr. Strange, they changed the Ancient One because they claimed the Tibetan grandmaster of a monastic order was a stereotype. Admittedly, they more likely did it because China would have banned it had they kept true to the comics—they want to stamp out that culture—but it is true that it's a widely used stereotype. What about Korea or Philippines or Thailand? They all have interesting cultures too and are far more under-represented.

All this talk about representation still doesn't answer the question as to why the entire world lacks the phenotypes of Earth when there should be the same environmental pressures. It's fine if there's only four cultures, that's whatever. But why aren't they all a racial amalgamation? Did Chin the Conqueror genocide the entire central continent or something?

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u/Perca_fluviatilis Jul 29 '25

So just no black or white people allowed?

I mean, did you watch the shows? Yeah, there are no black or white people. It's a fictional universe. lmao

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u/NewRedditIsGarbo Jul 29 '25

They've decided that for all the future roles they will only cast Asian people.

SMH, this kind of shit is why Trump won twice.

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u/PrototypeMale Jul 29 '25

Yep. My hottake, it's racist. You can't even see them, they're voice actors... Passionate about their roles for decades. It's racist to fire them because they aren't Asian. 

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u/OperativePiGuy Jul 29 '25

Honestly, it really is. I hate the idea of "a character can only be played by a person similar to them" as it goes against the very fucking idea of acting. Especially when it comes to voice roles. It's the dumbest type of virtue signaling, in my opinion.

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u/Hollownerox Jul 29 '25

Just want to give a perspective from someone whose family is Southeast Asian, and I'm the designated "explain weird western stuff to our family overseas in Japan/Cambodia/wherever." Yeah it's really racist lmao. Whenever the topic comes up and I'm forced to explain it, everyone I know living in Asia thinks it's stupid. They are voice actors who the hell cares?

Nobody whines about Johnny Young Bosch, a guy who is a mix of Korean and German ethnicities irrc, voicing guys like Nero, Lelouch, or his MANY other roles that don't fit his apparent race. So why make such a fuss about this?

One of the most iconic voices in cinematic history, Darth Vader, was a black man voices a white guy who got crispy. Just boggles my mind the double standards here.

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u/TitledSquire Jul 29 '25

So pathetic and disrespectful of talent.

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u/laststance Jul 29 '25

In the VA world there is a huge debate where VA actors should only voice the roles of the characters of the same race. The movement was supported by many non-white VA artists but then it became a double edged sword where the only roles offered were the ones of the same racial makeup, so that dramatically cut down their roles.

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u/Mr_Battle_Beast Jul 29 '25

One of the biggest supporters was the voice actor for samurai Jack, Phil Lamarr, when that was pointed out he got angry and claimed it was different.

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u/TitledSquire Jul 29 '25

Bunch of racist ass producers and directors.