Netflix has finally released its live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Though the series is now receiving mixed reviews, some praising it and others criticizing it, Rotten Tomatoes already gave it a 60% score and 75% audience ratings. However, with its title similar to James Cameron’s epic fantasy movie, Avatar, many confused it with the film, including the series’ actor Ken Leung, who plays Commander Zhao.
While describing his take on his role in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Leung was asked if he was familiar with the series, to which he admitted he wasn’t. In fact, he thought he was joining the world of Na’vi, especially since Cameron is set to introduce Fire Na’vi in Avatar 3.
“When I first heard it was for Avatar, I thought I was going to be blue,” he told Deadline Hollywood.
The actor explained that he didn’t know the original series and was auditioning for the Netflix show since the project's title hadn’t been revealed yet at the time. However, he saw it as an opportunity to perfectly portray his part, giving him his own ideas on how to do it.
He added:
I kind of love that I came in blank because when you have ideas, you can corrupt a pure process. When you come in blank, things will come into it that will inform your playing of the part in a way that it might not have if you came in with preconceived ideas.
Who is Commander Zhao in Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender?
Commander Zhao is the leader of the Fire Nation Navy in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Trained by the Firebending master Jeong Jeong, he’s one of the most powerful men in the Fire Nation. However, he has become a big rival of Prince Zuko as he takes it upon himself to capture Avatar Aang.
That said, he has turned into a major enemy of Team Avatar. But with his determination to take Aang captive, he kills the Moon Spirit at the Spirit Oasis. This leads to Zhao’s downfall after an Ocean Spirit takes its revenge and convicts him to spend the rest of his life in the Fog of Lost Souls in the Spirit World.
What is Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender about?
Avatar: The Last Airbender follows the story of Aang as he learns to muster all the four elements of water, earth, fire, and fire while facing the threats of the Fire Nation. As the last living Airbender and Avatar, he’s set to bring balance back to the world, which once lived in harmony until the Fire Nation attacked and wiped out Air Nomads and planned to conquer all the nations.
You can read the synopsis below:
Water. Earth. Fire. Air. The four nations once lived in harmony, with the Avatar, master of all four elements, keeping peace between them. But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked and wiped out the Air Nomads, the first step taken by the Firebenders toward conquering the world. With the current incarnation of the Avatar yet to emerge, the world has lost hope. But like a light in the darkness, hope springs forth when Aang, a young Air Nomad — and the last of his kind — reawakens to take his rightful place as the next Avatar. Alongside his newfound friends Sokka and Katara, siblings and members of the Southern Water Tribe, Aang embarks on a fantastical, action-packed quest to save the world and fight back against the fearsome onslaught of Fire Lord Ozai. But with a driven Crown Prince Zuko determined to capture them, it won’t be an easy task. They’ll need the help of the many allies and colorful characters they meet along the way.
Just a day after its release, it remains to be seen if Avatar: The Last Airbender will also take the world by storm as One Piece did. So far, fans laud it for sticking to its source material, but others can’t help but notice how it changes some aspects of the original series.
