Apologies, Avatar fans: You’ll have to wait a little longer for Netflix’s live-action remake. But, with filming underway in Vancouver, we have a little more insight into the hotly anticipated show. Namely, a few new warriors, benders, and Avatars.

Among the newcomers are two members of the kick-ass Kyoshi Warriors order: Maria Zhang will play leader Suki and Yvonne Chapman will play Avatar Kyoshi herself. Elsewhere, Elizabeth Yu will take on the role of iconic firebender Azula, Casey Camp-Horinek will play Gran Gran, Katara and Sokka’s grandmother, and Cobra Kai’s Tamlyn Tomita will play Yukari, Suki’s mother.

The new cast members will join an already packed lineup. ICYMI, Gordon Cormier will star as our fearless hero Aang while Kiawentiio and Ian Ousley, respectively, will play his closest friends Katara and Sokka. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Pen15 star Dallas Liu will take on the role of famed antihero Zuko and Daniel Dae Kim will play Ozai, Zuko’s father and the ruler of Fire Nation.

In August, showrunner Albert Kim penned a statement about how much the original animated Nickelodeon series meant to him and his young daughter. Absorbed in that series, he grew to love how “this was a world that drew from Asian cultures and legend, which is a rarity to this day and something I appreciated as an Asian-American father. That my daughter was able to see characters who looked like her on screen was more than just entertaining. It was a gift.” 

The idea of touching such a “complete and resonant” story was a daunting task, but he soon grew excited about the opportunity to bring Aang’s story to the screen in an entirely new way. A live-action adaptation, in his words, “would establish a new benchmark in representation and bring in a whole new generation of fans. Kim continued: “This was a chance to showcase Asian and Indigenous characters as living, breathing people. Not just in a cartoon, but in a world that truly exists, very similar to the one we live in.”

The Avatar world is an expansive one, and there are still many characters that may or may not show up. But, with each new addition, this live-action universe is starting to feel all the more real.