The incoming adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender might just be enough to break the Netflix curse.
It wouldn’t be the first adaptation to do so, but it would be among rare examples. The incoming adaptation of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko’s delightful fantasy tale appears, on the surface, to actually take its source material seriously. Its all but guaranteed to change some things up, adding new characters and altering storylines, but so long as the soul of the original remains, we longtime Avatar fans will be satisfied.
The latest casting reveals for the live-action series are adding yet more weight to rumors of the show’s quality. Hopeful fans were overjoyed at the reveal of a number of more minor characters, the casting of whom indicates that Netflix really is paying attention to the original.
We always knew Aang, Sokka, and Katara would be at the center of the story, but less vital characters are often ditched or massively altered in bad streaming adaptations. The fact that characters like the Mechanist, Jet, and June are included in Netflix’s live-action story might just prove that we’re headed toward a true-to-form, genuine reimagining of the story we love.
A big part of that hinges on the actors tapped to play the roles, of course, but we have nothing but faith in Kiawentiio, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, and Danny Pudi’s abilities. Even if the overarching story falls flat, we’re confident that the stars tapped to play our favorite characters will knock it out of the park.
Who is June?
Even characters like June, who we were never supposed to like. The character, in the original animated series, is tapped by Firelord Ozai’s son, Zuko, to hunt down Aang and his friends. An extremely talented bounty hunter, June pursues Aang and the Gaang — with the help of her trusty shirshu mount, Nyla — in the first season of the series, before returning as an ally for the final fight against Ozai.
June is a powerhouse of woman, sporting a dry wit and relentless determination, but her role in Avatar: The Last Airbender is, overall, pretty minor. That makes news that she’ll be included in the live-action series all the more exciting, because it indicates that the adaptation will lean hard on the source material — even when it comes to relatively background inclusions. Add to that Netflix’s stellar casting choice, and we’ve got a guaranteed favorite on our hands.
Who plays June in Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender?
The talented Arden Cho is set to bring June to brilliant life in Netflix’s Avatar adaptation. Viewers will recognize her from her roles as Kira Yukimura in Teen Wolf, Emily Choi in Chicago Med, and Ingrid Yun in 2022’s Partner Track, but June may be the role that elevates her to widespread fame.
She’ll debut in the role when the series arrives on Netflix on Feb. 22, 2024.
