As fans eagerly anticipated the live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, a lot of them were delighted to find a special connection to the original animated series that signaled a dedication to the source material.
The showrunner of Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix, Albert Kim, admitted that the cast of the live-action series featured some pretty big names, including Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai, George Takei as the spirit Koh, and veteran character actor Tamlyn Tomita as Suki’s mother Yukari.
Yet the most successful of them all was James Sie. Indeed, the gifted voice actor who portrayed the recognizable Cabbage Merchant in the animated Nickelodeon series made an unexpected cameo in the live-action version. What a pleasure to hear that!
Bringing him back for the live-action version is proof positive that the creators of the new adaptation paid close attention to detail and respected the original series.
The Original Cabbage Merchant Returned In Netlfix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender
James Sie is definitely familiar to Avatar: The Last Airbender fans. His voice could be heard in the bit part of Nickelodeon’s animated Avatar: The Last Airbender as the Cabbage Merchant, whose catchphrase, “My cabbages!” turned him into a huge fan favorite. Even though he did not have a notable past, his popularity helped establish memes and other related things.
And here’s a fun fact: Sie is currently portraying the same character in live-action on Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender. What the original series intended to be a bit part character turned into a beloved character. Albert Kim, the showrunner for Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, told EW:
“I’ve got to say, we had a lot of big names. He was probably the biggest celebrity we had on set. Everyone wanted to take a selfie with James, especially when he got into his costume, myself included.”
Kim also acknowledged that there were some “big names” on the set, despite their not being as well-known as James Sie. The former explained to EW:
“I’ve got to say, we had a lot of big names. He was probably the biggest celebrity we had on set. Everyone wanted to take a selfie with James, especially when he got into his costume, myself included.”
Moreover, Kim filled us in on how everything came together:
“We were committed to making sure our casting was culturally, ethnically appropriate…Back in the original, a lot of those roles were voiced by white actors, and they were great and it was appropriate at the time. It’s not something that we wanted to do. So that actually precluded us from going to a lot of the actors from the original show.”
But Sie, who most famously provided the voice of Master Monkey in Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness and Jackie Chan in Jackie Chan Adventures, is of Asian descent. Kim went on:
“When we were talking about that role, and we knew we were going to do that role, we were tossing out some names. One of the things I said was, ‘Why not go back to the original? Why not get James involved?’ So I reached out to him, and he was absolutely thrilled with the idea that he couldn’t wait to do it.”
Anyway, fans will find it to be a tasty Easter egg and their response upon his arrival in the series shows just how popular this person is in the fandom.
The First Season of The Last Airbender on Netflix Satisfied A 19-Year-Old Avatar Joke?
A joke that took 19 years to develop was hilariously realized in the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix. Several familiar features from the original series were tucked away as humorous Easter eggs. One such was less subdued but still resulted in a joke about Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is 19 years old and will probably run into the Netflix show’s second season.
The first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix pays tribute to the long-running joke known as the “cabbage man” in the series. Aang, Katara, and Sokka are seen entering Omashu in episode 3, nearly toppling a cart filled with cabbages. Zuko firebrands at Aang later in the episode, scorching the cabbages. The seller of cabbages then exclaims, “My cabbages!” carrying on a running joke from the original show.
The Cabbage Man (James Sie) appeared on Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender on multiple occasions. Throughout the entire show, he is portrayed as a man who simply wants to run a successful cabbage stand, but he frequently runs into the Avatar and his friends, with their misfortunes falling upon his poor cabbages. In a hilarious turn of events, the cabbage man—whose live-action Netflix adaptation pays a fitting homage to—became an iconic figure for viewers of The Last Airbender after making his debut 19 years ago in 2005.
Both the live-action and animated series of Avatar: The Last Airbender are now streaming on Netflix.
