Angsty Teen To Play Teen Aang

If you watched Nickelodeon's faux-Japanese anime "Avatar: The Last Airbender" like I did then you're probably already aware that M. Night "Sixth Sense" Shyamalan is writing and directing the feature film live action adaptation.

What you may not be aware of is that the three lead protagonists have just been cast. An unknown karate kid from Texas who goes by the name of Noah Ringer will be playing the bald, arrow-tattooed Aang (center in the image) who is the Avatar and the last airbender in the series. Jackson Rathbone from the recent teen vampire flick Twilight will be playing the clumsy (and often hilarious) Sokka while Nicole Peltz will take the role of Katara, Sokka's moody sister and bossy waterbender.

It was also announced that Jesse McCartney is in negotiations for the role of Prince Zuko, Aang's chief antagonist who was banished from the Fire Kindom by his father until he regains his honor. No mention of who will be playing Toph the earthbender, or if she will even be in the film. Same goes for Zuko's wise tea-loving uncle Iroh and his super evil sister Azula.

Also unannounced is who will play the roles of Aang's Sky Bison, Appa and his little flying monkey thing Momo. Knowing Hollywood's casting directors they'll probably go with the obvious choices, Michael Clark Duncan as Appa and Brad Pitt as Momo.

I have no idea what the Texan karate kid looks like but I guess if he's skinny, bald, has blue arrows painted all over his body and can fly around on a kite then he'll suit the role to a tee. Jackson Rathbone looks like he could fit into Sokka's blue robes after a quick shave but going by Nicole's IMDb profile shot she looks a little too young for Katara. Maybe when she gets the loopy things in her hair she'll look the part.

Regardless of what happens I'll be keeping a close eye on this one. The series was great fun and was something I could watch with the kids yet still get something out of it for myself. Let's hope M. Night pulls out his Stuart Little hat and not his The Happening hat when writing the script.