The live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series could be bringing in a truly exciting character. A new report reveals that the Netflix show may have cast Free Guy actor Utkarsh Ambudkar as the eternally spry King Bumi!
The update comes from Knight Edge Media which reports that Utkarsh Ambudkar is joining the cast of the Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action series. The Pitch Perfect actor is set for a guest star appearance in the show as King Bumi, the Earth Kingdom ruler of Omashu. It has not been revealed how many episodes Ambudkar will appear in.
It's great to know that King Bumi will show up in Avatar: The Last Airbender but why is the 112-year-old monarch being played by a much younger actor? The casting would have to do with how Bumi is expected to be played in the show.
In the original animated series, the king was revealed to be much stronger than his age suggests and is a very skilled Earthbender who doesn't shy away from the action. With that in mind, Bumi would need to be played by someone who can keep up with the stuntwork.
There is a huge possibility that Ambudkar will be aged up with prosthetics and the actor might need to do a lot of stuntwork. With that in mind, we can't wait to meet his version of King Bumi soon.
Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender series will star Gordon Cormier as Aang the Avatar, Kiawentiio Tarbell as Katara, Ian Ousley as Sokka, Dallas Liu as Zuko, Elizabeth Yu as Azula, Maria Zhang as Suki, Ken Leung as Commander Zhao, Lim Kay Siu as Gyatso, Yvonne Chapman as Avatar Kyoshi, Tamlyn Tomita as Yukari, and Casey Camp-Horinek as Gran Gran. Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and Daniel Dae Kim will play Uncle Iroh and Fire Lord Ozai, respectively.
The series has not yet been given an official release date. Stay tuned for more updates on this story.
Related: Avatar: The Last Airbender Set for 3 New Films at Paramount and Nickelodeon