First Images from Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2010) Movie, Featured, Movie Images — By Nix on May 22, 2009
If you’re one of those people who were dissatisfied with M. Night Shyamalan having cast a Caucasian to play the lead in his upcoming live-action adaptation of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” (now going simply by “The Last Airbender” to avoid confusion with James Cameron’s sci-fi opus “Avatar”), you might want to avert your gaze, because below are the first two pics from Shyamalan’s movie. The first features the bald Aang, played by real-life martial arts kid Noah Ringer, and the other is a picture of “Slumdog Millionaire’s” Dev Patel as Zuko. Check them both out below, check them outers.
Images via USAToday (Yahoo! Movies has since posted better versions of the same images), who also offers this about the two actors and their roles:
Ringer didn’t need to alter much to play Aang, who uses martial arts to manipulate the weather. Like Aang, Ringer keeps his head shaved and is an expert in martial arts. “It keeps me cool when I’m doing tae kwon do,” says Ringer, a Texas native with a black belt who landed the role after sending a homemade DVD of him practicing the sport. “It’s so cool to get the part.”
Patel, too, seems suited for the film, the first of a planned trilogy. He earned his black belt in tae kwon do before he turned to acting and discovered the television show while filming Millionaire. “I started watching it in my trailer in India,” says Patel, who plays the villain Zuko, a “firebender” (he manipulates flames). “I see why the fan base is so big. It’s got action but a lot of moral messages.”
Shymalan’s “The Last Airbender”, the first of a planned trilogy (what movie isn’t nowadays?), bends its way into theaters July 2, 2010.
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72 Comments
The Last Airbender: the white washing of Asian cultures.
What the heck is on Aang’s forehead?!?!?! And I thought they couldn’t mess it up any more…
you idiot its his arrow duhh if you watched the show you would know
Wow….definatly not going to watch this. They should have tried getting a young show Lin monk to play the role of aang
haha you all are haters, this is going to be the biggest movie of our era, also they got a perfect aang and zuko! and its not asian based its world based
You’re just pretending to be dense, right?
actually he’s right. The show is influenced by asian cultures and philosphies but it’s a fantasy world and no true nationalities (Other than Fire, Water, Air, and Earth) are mentioned. If you want to be all “this movie is anti-Asian” then you may as well say the WHOLE of the Avatar world was Asian, with small pockets of other cultures.
Saying the movie will suck because of some early pictures is like saying the first X-men movie would suck based on early pics of the WOlverine suit. And it did great. I will admit I’m worried he’s gonna mess this up, but only because his track record as of late has been so bad.
This is the most original story line since Harry Potter; and like HP it is set in a fantasy world that is not real. I got into Avatar at the end of the first book just before Night and like him I watched it with my kids and was hooked. We were at blockbuster renting the dvds because they were out for sale before they all aired on nick. We couldn’t wait for the story to play out. It looks like Night is right on track; it looks beautiful so far. I know he loves the story as much as the rest of us and wants to do the best job he can. We will all have to wait and see but I am sure he will cast the best actors for the parts as they come up. For all you haters out there; if you feel that strongly about it then don’t see the movie and shut up.
Hello moron the creators of avatar said it is an Asian based world and there are no Caucasians in it. (Don’t you see the Chinese writing in the show?)
uhhh… im not even asian, and i know the characters are supposed to be asian. that’s like casting jet li for the role of Superman (who, according to your argument would work since superman is a fantasy world based kryptonian, despite being created with western values and influences (”truth, justice, and the american way”). hell, might as well make a new batman starring jackie chan, since gotham isnt a real city either. moron. this movie is an affront.
hmm… That’s a good point. Let’s re-vamp the Lord of the Rings Trilogy too, and have morgan freeman play gandalf, javier bardem play aragorn, and short round from indiana jones to play frodo. after all, ethnicity was never specified in LOTR, right? other than elves and humans… and the last i checked, unless youre racist, youll have to admit minorities are human too. i can see all the die hard whiteys throwing hissy fits already. and yet, you cant understand why its ridiculous not to cast a single asian in avatar? are u blind or retarded?
This movie will suck. It’ll be just as bad as Dragonball: Evolution. You can’t avoid the fact that it will suck, you can only ignore the facts.
What was Shyamalan’s last GOOD movie anyway? Sure wasn’t Lady in the Water or The Happening. Was it Really 2002’s Signs!? That’s a long time to keep turning out bad movies, that would be three so far with Last Airbender being number four. But people with pack the theaters for this trash opening weekend, sing praises for the “Brillent work by the Great Shyamalan” and ignore the hacked story, over blown special effexts, terrible dialog, and worthless plot twists he will add. So yes, I’m hating this. Just as I warned people that DB:E would god awful, I’m now warning the world, a full year in advance of it’s release, this movie will be another waste of your time and money, and unlike a DVD player with a rented copy, you’ll be out $12 a person instead of $5 for renting it from Blockbuster, which could be returned that day.
Have fun washing your eyeballs after seeing this travisty of a movie. (hopefully be able to see something more entertaining that weekend. If not, I could always rent something by Bill Murry.)
For the record, I like Lady in the Water. Everything you wrote is compleltly biased and opinionated. Just as me liking Lady in the Water is. If the director really does screw this over, then just go back to loving the cartoon. If you have seen Eragon, you either loved it or hated it. If the first, you obviously didn’t read the book, if the later, then you know what I’m talking about. A movie can easily destroy something it is based on. Honestly, it will be nigh impossible to actually pull off this movie. He has to find a way to fit every important detail from an entire season of episodes into two hours, becuase the American public are a bunch of nitwits (Myself included) who can’t sit still for more then two hours. I would gladly watch a four hour Avatar movie if it was well done. But stop spweing biased opinionated crap just becuase you don’t like the director, or whatever your reasons may be. Not to be a flamer or anything, becuase I do see where you are coming from, but if you don’t think it will turn out well and you don’t want to see it then don’t, but stop trying to put people off what may be a good movie. Yes it may not, but don’t start saying it will suck from the first minute and a half of footage.
And it’s stated that the star is a real martial artist. GOOD!!! we need more people who have some idea of what they’re doing in parts like this. I’m ssorry Justin Chatwin I’m looking at you.
Guys…I think we are missing the big picture here. The movie’s release is a year away. Also, let’s not forget that, unlike the DB:E movie, the actual creators of the cartoon will probably have a HUGE role to play in how the movie turns out. From what I can see of the screenshots, M. Night has done a pretty good job displaying location and the characters. SO what, if the arrow on Noah Ringer’s head isn’t blue…I’m sure CGI can fix that as well as the other special effects needed to make this movie. Also, remember this is a TRILOGY. The first one is WATER…so all you Toph fanatics who are pissed cuz the blind bender doesnt show will just have to tuck your head between your legs and wait for the sequel. DEAL WITH IT!!! For those who saw DB:E…i’m sorry, but these are two different types of animation, with two different plots and most importantly…TWO DIFFERENT DIRECTORS!!! Being asian should not be the focus of the movie since Nickelodeon is an American corporation. The martial arts styles where the bending is based and the culture of most of the bending styles looks Oriental, yes…BUT this is America…if you listen to Aang, Toph, and Sokka speak, I really don’t think that is Oriental humor that you’re hearing. Let M. Night do his work and be a judge in 2010. STOP BITCHING!!!! Good luck M. Night. I know you won’t let the fans down!!!
so americans r white. tnx u for the info.
not to say that americans are white…but the fact that the characters in the movie are not asian seem to piss a lot of ppl off…that clearly shouldnt be the case…
so, u wouldnt be pissed if lord of the rings was cast with all asians? and maybe one half white dwarf? what about superman? what if they made movies with asians playing superman, since he’s an alien, and race shouldnt be an issue? honestly, you wouldnt notice and be all optimistic about those movies? u try to sound all objective cause your obviously a fan, as much as i am, but race does play an issue when u cast the wrong looking people to play parts that werent designed to be played by the wrong looking people.
Americans arnt just white, there’s Asian Americans, black Americans and Latin Americans
THANKYOU!!!! Glad someone pointed out our mixing pot.
Not ONLY that but the stories are different. I’m a DB/DBZ/DBGT fan but the stories were paper thin. Really. bad guys are coming, good guys train to beat them, fight ensues, good guys win. Repeat with new villains and new transformation. Last Airbender has a very rich, and deep story. Oh and Dev Patel is NOT white, OR American for that matter. The cartoon is American based (Created here in the States) but was created with a love of Asian philosophies and martial arts, much like “Forbidden Kingdom” was written by an American with a great love for Asian cinema, culture, and philosophy. This movie, like the cartoon could be an amaziingly original fantasy adventure. I look forward to it..
Thank you mangafan; those are some of the ideas I was trying to find words for. We are all Toph fans in my house and we’re not worried because we know she doesn’t come along until the next book. As for talie; no all american are not white; most are mixed. In my home we are a blend of six different nationalities from three countries in only two generations. Half the peopel I work with have mixed race family members. Mixed race movie charaters in a make believe world should does not bother us.
a better cast try to send it to every one u can so that the makers can get the point and not ruin the movie like DBZ
The pictures look good but I think the movie will be good except for the one thing.the fighting styles used in the series. It says both of them have a black belt in Tae Kwon do. I did here that Noah ringer uses other fighting styles as well but in the series Aang use Ba Gua as his fighting style which uses erratic, circular movements. The technique uses centripetal force to generate power, and uses nearly constant circular movement to create angles between the combatants. zuko uses Northern Shaolin Kung Fu, as his fighting style not tae kwon do as well as hun gar for earthbending and tai chi for waterbending. This is the only thing that worries me. I mean yes the release is a year away and they been filming for sometime so maybe they did learn the correct forms for the styles but i just hope M night gets it right. it would be terrible to just screw up such a classic and epic series by not sticking to the story.
That’s what extra training and fight coreography is for. The important thing is that they have some background in martial arts, as it’s easier to learn new techniques or at least you look better performing them. Kelly Hu looks very fluid when fighting in X2 because of her background in martial arts, as does Wesley SNipes in the Blade movies.
Why they couldnt jus make it an animated movie jus like the show???????????????????????????????????????????????
Same reason there are Batman movies, Spiderman, movies and so on…people want to see things brought to real life.
perosnaly i think that it would be better in animation.