“Avatar: The Last Airbender” reveals live-action Mai and Ty Lee — watch a sneak peek

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” reveals live-action Mai and Ty Lee — watch a sneak peek
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Princess Azula's closest allies make an early arrival in the live-action adaptation.

Two more characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender are making the jump from animation to live action.

With one more day until the new Netflix series arrives on the streaming platform, EW can exclusively unveil Thalia Tran as Mai and Momona Tamada as Ty Lee. With Mai described as "an unflappable and deadpan teen" and Ty Lee as "energetic and upbeat," the two are the closest allies of Princess Azula (Elizabeth Yu) in the Fire Nation.

These two characters didn't show up until season 2 of the original Nickelodeon animated series, but they arrive early in the context of the latest live-action adaptation. A clip from the first season (shown above) reveals Azula venting to them about her brother, Prince Zuko (Dallas Liu), and the praise heaped on him by their father, Fire Lord Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim).

<p>Nickelodeon; Netflix</p> Thalia Tran plays Mai in 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'

Nickelodeon; Netflix

Thalia Tran plays Mai in 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'

Yu previously signaled to EW that there would be multiple moments like this; in other words, scenes we didn't get to see in the original show. “A lot of the O.G. series was through the eyes of Zuko,” she said. “I feel like our show lets [Azula and Ozai] have their own start to their story before all the stuff that we know them to do later on.… We get to see her origin story, which is really cool."

Set in a world of benders, those with the ability to manipulate one of the four natural elements, Avatar: The Last Airbender tells the story of Aang (Gordon Cormier), a young airbender who learns he's the next Avatar, a reincarnated entity who can control all four elements in order to maintain balance in the world. But Aang has been missing for 100 years, allowing the Fire Nation to wage a war for global domination. When he finally returns, Aang must lean on his new allies, waterbender Katara (Kiawentiio) and her brother Sokka (Ian Ousley), if he has any hope of honing his abilities and stopping the war.

<p>Nickelodeon; Netflix</p> Momona Tamada plays Ty Lee in 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'

Nickelodeon; Netflix

Momona Tamada plays Ty Lee in 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'

"We don't start the show the way the animated series starts. That was a conscious decision to show people this is not the animated series," showrunner Albert Kim told EW. "We had to sometimes unravel storylines and remix them in a new way to make sense for a serialized drama," he added. "So I'm very curious to see what'll happen in terms of reaction to that."

Watch EW's exclusive clip above, and see all the other characters in live action compared to the animated original.

Avatar: The Last Airbender premieres Thursday, Feb. 22, on Netflix.

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