Fil-Am Dave Bautista joins cast of new 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' movie
Filipino-American actor Dave Bautista will be lending his voice for the upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender animated movie that's being developed by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Studios.
The news came during this year's Cinemacon event, wherein Paramount shared that the retired professional wrestler will be playing a villain character that Aang and his companions will have to face.
Bautista is known for his stint in World Wrestling Entertainment between 2002 and 2019 before fully pursuing an acting career. He is widely known for his portrayal of Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Guardians of the Galaxy.
Joining him in the new Avatar movie are South Korean singer Eric Nam as Aang, Dionne Quan as Toph, Jessica Matten as Katara, and Roman Zaragoza as Sokka.
The film’s working title is "Aang: The Last Airbender," and while details regarding its story have yet to be disclosed, fans can expect to see adult versions of Aang and his friends.
Lauren Montgomery, who worked as a storyboard artist on the original Avatar animated series as well as its sequel show The Legend of Korra, will direct the upcoming feature.
The original series aired on Nickelodeon for three seasons, from February 2005 to July 2008. However, in 2021, Nickelodeon announced that it has plans to continue Aang's story through the launch of Avatar Studios, which will produce two more films after the new one.
The show's premise revolves around four nations—Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads—and how they once lived in harmony with the Avatar keeping the peace between them, until the Fire Nation wiped out the Air Nomads. It's up to the last Air Nomad–a young boy named Aang–to become the next Avatar and restore peace to the world.
The new film is set for an Oct. 10, 2025 release.
Aside from this, Avatar: The Last Airbender has also recently been adapted into live-action by Netflix, which stars Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley, Dallas Liu, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Ken Leung, and Daniel Dae Kim. The series was renewed for a second and third season.
If you're curious about the Netflix adaptation, here are Five reasons to be excited about the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender.