Dante Basco, who voiced the fan favorite Prince Zuko on Avatar: The Last Airbender, confirms he's talked to series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko about the upcoming live-action adaptation. Avatar has already been adapted into live-action form before with M. Night Shayamalan's The Last Airbender, but to say it didn't go well would be putting it lightly. Fans of the beloved animated series were heavily displeased with the changes made in creating The Last Airbender, from cramming an entire season's worth of storylines into one movie to pronouncing certain characters' names wrong. There was a palpable weariness among the fan base when Netflix announced its intention to create a new live-action Avatar series, but the news that DiMartino and Konietzko are involved helped win people over.
Now fans are eagerly awaiting any updates they can come by for this new Avatar, but so far progress has been slow. Casting hasn't even been announced for the series, though the creators promised to hire actors of color for the Asian-influenced show. One character bound to get extra scrutiny is Zuko, who has emerged as one of the most beloved characters on Avatar. Zuko begins Avatar as one of the main villains before undergoing an excellent redemption arc that allows him to become a true hero.
Basco, who is also best known for playing Rufio in Hook, sat down with Screen Rant to talk about his upcoming Twitch series Artificial. Inevitably, the subject of Avatar and its latest live-action attempt came up. First, Basco expressed his enthusiasm for Avatar's newfound popularity (now that it is available on Netflix) before saying, "So I’m really excited to be a part of the Avatar family, and that’s coming back in live-action, and I’m looking forward to being a part of that and continuing to see what happens with the story." When we asked if there's anyone Basco would like to see play Zuko, he said this:
I don’t know specifically who I would want to see play Zuko. All of that is dependent upon how you cast the whole gang and how the world works out. I’m just excited that Mike [DiMartino] and Bryan [Konietzko] are at the helm of it all, and we’ve had some conversations. They know I’m here as part of the family to help out in any way, and we’ll see as it gets closer how the whole cast comes together. I’m excited as much as anybody else.
Hearing that Basco might have some kind of role in the new Avatar series is certainly welcome news, especially to those who are fans of his performance in the original series. While Basco can't play Zuko, he could surely fill a different role, either as a recurring character or simply a cameo role. Either way, it will be a thrill for fans to see Basco return to the world of Avatar. Beyond Zuko, Basco joined the sequel series The Legend of Korra to voice Zuko's grandson Iroh.
Hopefully more people from the original series can get involved with the live-action Avatar. Everyone's favorite cabbage merchant has already expressed his interest in appearing somehow, and more might join as the series ramps up production. It's likely that Avatar is still in the development stages, but things might move quicker now that the animated show has gotten more attention with its move to Netflix. It's only a matter of time until Netflix reveals more about this highly-anticipated show.
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