Daniel Dae Kim Compares His Role as Fire Lord Ozai to Star Wars’ Darth Vader

Summary

• Daniel Dae Kim has compared the character of Fire Lord Ozai from Avatar: The Last Airbender with the iconic Star Wars’ antagonist, Darth Vader. 
• Kim believes the unwavering, evil nature of Ozai attracted him to the character. 

Avatar: The Last Airbender actor Daniel Dae Kim has compared the character of Fire Lord Ozai to the iconic Lord Darth Vader from Star Wars. Kim has voiced General Fong in the original Avatar series and Hiroshi Sato in the sequel series, The Legend of Korra. 

Kim is set to return for the new live-action remake of the series, which will premiere on Netflix on February 22. 

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly , Kim spoke at length about what inspired him to do the role. Kim explained that the unapologetic, vivid, and evil nature of Ozai drew him towards the character. He compared Ozai to Star Wars’ Darth Vader to explain his point. 

Check out the entire quote here: 

He’s deliciously a villain, and that’s what I sank my teeth into. That’s one of the things that I was really looking forward to doing. He reminded me of the Darth Vader of this show.

I really enjoyed exploring this idea that he was so unapologetic about the things that he believed in. It actually reminded me a little bit of our political landscape today because there are certain people who take such extreme positions without apology and with the understanding that their position is the only correct position. That is how Ozai thinks, in a strange way. In his own way, he believes he is parenting the best way he knows how. He is trying to groom his son to be a successor, and he’s seeing that his daughter is naturally equipped to succeed him. So he’s trying to figure out who is going to lead this nation into the future.

In ‘The Last Airbender,’ Ozai is portrayed as an upcoming threat. As the show moves forward, viewers understand how big of a threat he is. Viewers only know about the Fire Lord’s deeds through other characters and Zuko for a long time. Reports suggest that the upcoming Netflix series will explore Ozai’s character and relationship with his kids more deeply. 

Azula and Ozai are also included in season 1, although they were not included in the animated series until later. The main antagonist of Avatar: The Last Airbender is Zuko, who shares a dark and complicated relationship with his father, Ozai. We learn more about it through flashbacks. 

Moreover, Daniel Dae Kim has appeared in the latest promotional material and trailers, hinting at his important storyline in season 1. The show will change some story elements, and more information will be available as we head towards the premiere date. 

About Avatar: The Last Airbender

Avatar is an animated series created by Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.

The plot is set in a universe consisting of 4 different nations corresponding to the respective element: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Their peace gets disrupted when the Fire becomes violent and dominates over the others.

Avatar follows the story of Aang, Sokka, and Katara in their quest to beat the corrupt Fire Kingdom, as Aang tries to master the elements.