21 Comments on New Pics From The Last Airbender

Tay on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 2:17 pm



little dude looks retarded, the chic has a snobby look, Indian isn’t working, and is the fourth dude gay??? BTW Where is the scar and tattoo MAKE THEM NOTICEABLE!!!!!!!

Bobby on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 2:18 pm



Tell Me About It!!!!!!

Daniela on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 7:00 pm



The guy on the bottom is Jackson Rathbone, he played Jasper in Twilight. They may look somber now, but these are just profile pictures. Jackson’s character, Sokka, is a for the most part, a comedy relief character. And Aang has many “child in the middle of a candy store” moments.

Buffy Summers on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 9:55 pm



OMG!!! They look ridiculous!!!! Wat happen to Aang, Zuko, Katara and Soka??? I’m a huge fan of the tv series and this is not what i had in mind for the movie!!! Why isn’t Aang’s blue tattoo more visible??? And holy crap!!! Dev looks ridiculous as Zuko!!!! The moment I found out that Dev was gonna play Zuko, I was already mad. But then, i thought to myself, maybe he can fit the character some how… make him look more chinese with make-up or sumthing… But this is just horrible… And wat happen to the Inuit kids??? The girl who plays Katara and Jackson looks too white… They’ should’ve applied more make-up to resemble actual Inuit people.. I just hope this movie wont b a disappointment as I was looking forward to watch it!!!

kellie Hardy-Bullock on Fri, 17th Jul 2009 11:02 pm



Since when was this story about Indian and white people?
Talk about crapping on the asian culture! It is absolutely insulting
to the asian community to say that it is too hard to find an asian cast
in the U.S.. Just because the director is Indian, he puts in a bunch of indian and white people to play Chineese. Very upsetting!!!!!!!!!!!!

Y on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 3:17 am



I’m personally very excited about the actors.
The only reason I’m even replying is because the first post really pissed me off. Jackson Rathbone is not gay, nor does he look it. And I think Dev looks great. So they don’t look exactly like the animated versions, but who cares?

jolinar on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 3:51 am



I really don’t care too much about how they look only that they stay as close to the character as possible and the visual effects are as good as the trailer
BIG FAN!!!

Maggie on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 4:00 am



I agree with Y. The actors look fine.

To everyone who’s complaing about the actors, Jesse McCartney was originally intended to play the role of Zuko. I personally like Dev Patel better.

And why are people already judging this movie? We’ve seen ONE trailer with only Aang in it and a couple promotional pictures.
I don’t know about all of you, but I’m stoked for this movie.

Wouter on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 4:33 am



They look better than I expected!! This is a great boost for me, because I was a little skeptical about the character casting, but this looks fine! If only the visual effects in the movie looks fine, this could be a new epic movie.

Dakota on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 3:23 pm



I am a huge fan of the show and I do agree that the Actors may not be exact, but the graphics look awesome and I cant judge the Actors till I watch the movie and neither should anyone else!

!!New!! The Last Ahrbender on Sat, 18th Jul 2009 8:40 pm



http://www.youtube.com/rewardsguy101
this guy uploaded NEW pics of Zuko and fire lord ozai to his blog!! Check it out!!

Imajicka1 on Sun, 19th Jul 2009 1:38 am



Buffy, ever heard of “blackface”? If casting white people to play the Water Tribe (I’m still of the belief that Sokka and Katara in the cartoon DO NOT look like Inuit) is offensive, then casting white people and then putting make-up on them to look Inuit is 10x worse. Look, the casting directors chose these actors. You can complain about the casting decisions if you want, but don’t suggest doing a modern day version of “blackface”. No one wins in that scenario.

Besides, Dev Patel’s scar looks realistic. A real scar isn’t going to look like the scar in the cartoon.

You know what, I’m going to get on my soapbox now. Avatar the Last Airbender is an American made show. The world depicted is a fantasy world that doesn’t really exist. Is the show based on Far Eastern/Buddhist culture? Yes. Is there a heavy East Asian influence? Yes. Should the cast more closely resemble the ethnicities of the cartoon characters? Probably. But, since this world is a fictional world, and it is Hollywood, a producer and/or director can make changes to it as he sees fit, putting his own stamp on his work. He risks alienating the cartoon’s fanbase, but apparently, Shyamalan and Paramount believes that getting the mainstream audience will more than make up for it.

There are problematics with the idea that Katara and Sokka are Inuit. Here’s my problem with that. In the cartoon, they don’t look like Inuit. Inuit don’t have big blue eyes. Honestly, Katara and Sokka don’t look like they belong to any natural ethnic group. It’s like in anime when there are characters with blue and green hair. Nobody in real life has blue or green hair!!! So who would you cast for them? The closest group I can think of for Sokka and Katara are mulattos (half black/half white racially mixed). That would account for the darker complexion and the blue eyes! Real Inuit (eskimos) look nothing like Katara or Sokka.

Cartoon Aang looks like he could be almost any ethnic group (mainly because he’s bald). Well, in my opinion, Noah Ringer look an awful lot like Aang. If the actor looks almost exactly like the character he is playing, does it matter what ethnic group he’s from? No, it doesn’t. Because you WANT to cast someone who LOOKS like the character he’s supposed to play, which Noah does. This is the only casting choice in the movie, by the way, that I completely agree with.

I could go on and on with this. Yes, Hollywood is very stereotypical and “minorities” are badly under-represented in movies. And I will even go so far as to say that Shyamalan blew a great opportunity to prove that a blockbuster can be successful with a mostly minority (Asian) cast. But, ultimately, as long as the plot and the character’s personalities are faithful to the cartoon (and I have a feeling it will be), then for me, this movie will be a success.

Finally, to those who are complaining about the casting, don’t take it out on the actors and actresses. They are only doing their job. Your anger should be directed to Paramount and the casting directors. If you really want to make change, go after the executives at the top.

Okay, I’m leaving the soapbox now. Flame away if you want.

Pooja on Sun, 19th Jul 2009 4:45 pm



I have to agree Imajicka1. My only other thing is that the scar for Zuko may be “realistic” but it should be noticeable. It’s a key symbol of the Zuko’s past and people need to know that throughout the film. And the markings on Aang should also be more noticeable. They’re just too faint. Otherwise…yes. Paramount really should have worked on their casting. But there’s not much we can do so why complain? Let it go, and deal with it. Just pray that the actual film is good.

Chris Wheeler on Tue, 21st Jul 2009 9:15 am



I hope this isn’t just one movie, how are you going to fit such a big story line into just 2 hours? The movie would suck like that!
You could make it into three different movies, that woul be better.

Kris on Wed, 22nd Jul 2009 2:10 pm



They are making three movies, one based on every season. This movies will begin with Katara and Sokka finding Aang and end with the Seige of the Northern Water Temple. Can’t wait to see that battle on film, Aang kicking butt in the Avatar state will surely be AWESOME!

Iroh on Fri, 24th Jul 2009 8:41 am



I really don’t see what the big deal is…they’re pretty poor resolution pics anyway! And plus, there’s still months of shooting and refining, edited and post production etc. What makes you think the final product will look ANYTHING like this AT ALL?
For those with their entrails in a knot, maybe stop and think about what the press releases have said. This movie IS drawing from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds, particularly for the majorly important minor roles. What would Avatar be without the earth-benders diversity for example?! Have some faith in the creators of the original series too. I doubt that Mike and Dave (names right? :S) would go without complaint if they thought their characters were being mishandled. Again, there is an issue of underlying message too. Mike and Dave created a series about diversity, culture and unity. Maybe instead of arguing amongst yourselves and looking for all that is disagreeable and different you should look at what is GOOD and RIGHT about this movie. Visual affects, costumes and scenery for example! The reality is that with most modern movies its the explosions, music and clothing (or lack thereof) that makes a movie worth watching. I think they’ve done a fantastic job at bringing this world to life personally and you should all be grateful that they are going to the trouble of making a moving like this!

Or maybe you would prefer another movie about a slutty teenage girl who thinks she’s in true love with her forty year old employer and runs off to Mexico…

Be thankful.

I hope that has given you something to think about…
I may sound old fashioned, but remember that from disunity comes failure and the team on this movie want fan SUPPORT to make this work. Negativity will only lead to your own disappointment.

Think on it.

Toph on Sun, 26th Jul 2009 2:06 pm



@ Iroh: I totally agree.

Toph on Sun, 26th Jul 2009 2:08 pm



@ 1.Imajicka1: Right on!

Imajicka1 on Tue, 28th Jul 2009 1:27 am



@ Iroh: I completely agree too. I have a feeling that Shyamalan will pull a Peter Jackson-styled success here. And the parallels between the two are unavoidable. Peter Jackson was most notable for making cult horror movies before he made the Lord of the Rings. His most well-known movie before LOTR was The Frighteners with Micheal J Fox! And yet, those horror movie skills are part of the reason why LOTR was so great. For example, his Ringwraiths are as scary as any horror movie villian. Whenever those wraiths come sreaming into the screen, you know all hell will break loose!

Shyamalan also specializes in thrillers. His ability to make suspenseful and/or frightening scenes will translate well into the fantasy genre. Also, Shyamalan’s biggest weakness (poor scripting/storytelling) will not be much of a factor, since all he has to do is remain true to the original story. He can then focus on the things he is very good at, which is getting good performances out of his actors and getting excellent production work out of his cinematographers and technicians.

wow on Sun, 9th Aug 2009 9:03 am



have anyone noticed that everytime someone posts a negative comment and afterwards a counter attack comment, all the negative comments dissapear from the comment thing…. haha. It’s like we just stopped their bashing by posting. love all your points of view…. I do mean all you positive commenters.

Andre on Thu, 13th Aug 2009 2:21 am



Okay so I’m totally excided for the film but I am a little worried about aangs character. The kid playing him looks way to serious and I’m a huge fan of the tv series and aang is more of a happy goofy kid LOL. And his arow isn’t even visible and that’s suppose to be like his trade mark LOL. I think they picked a good actor for sokka I mean Jackson rathbone looks like he could lull it off. Kararas character looks kinda good I expected her hair to be diffrent but I think she’s great. As for zukos chacrater…. No I really don’t like that guy. You can barley see his scar and that’s what zukos known for. But if they keep him well then he must be a good actor :/

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