Daniel Dae Kim Is Fire Lord Ozai—or Should That Be 'Oh, Zaddy'?

Netflix has just dropped a sneak peek at a few members of what will inevitably a sprawling cast in its upcoming live-action remake of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino, the creators of the original beloved animated series which ran for three season (or "books") on Nickelodeon, first announced they would be returning to the world of avatars back in 2020, at a time when the show was reaching a brand new audience on streaming during quarantine. And, aware of just how widely reviled M. Night Shyamalan's attempt at a big-screen adaptation has become, they made it clear that this new version of the Chinese and Japanese-inspired fantasy would feature "culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed" actors and more diverse representation.

And now we have our first look at the Fire Nation, the militaristic faction which wields its flaming power over the Water Tribe, Air Nomads, and Earth Kingdom. While initially presented as the chief antagonists of the series in a pretty traditional bad guy fashion, the Fire Nation's royal family comprises some of the show's most interesting character dynamics and serialized arcs, with Prince Zuko, General Iroh, and Princess Azula becoming firm fan favorites.

But once the images dropped on social media, most fans only had eyes for Fire Lord Ozai, the imperial despot who rules as firmly and cruelly over his own children as he does his subjects. Portrayed by Daniel Dae Kim, who has had roles in practically every TV show ever and shows absolutely zero signs of aging, this is a new take on Ozai. A hot take, if you will.

The other images released by Netflix show Kim's Convenience and The Mandalorian star Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Iroh, Shang-Chi's Dallas Liu as Zuko, Elizabeth Yu as Azula, and Ken Leung as Commander Zhao.

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