Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender

Just over two decades after the premiere of Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aang’s story continues with an all-new movie, Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, featuring a wonderful collection of fun Easter eggs and references to the original series.

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender tells a brand-new chapter set after the events of the original animated series, with Team Avatar having grown up as young adults. While Aang is voiced by Eric Nam, Katara and Sokka are played by Jessica Matten and Román Zaragoza. Likewise, Toph is voiced byDionne Quan while Fire Lord Zuko is voiced by none other than Steven Yeun. Facing an all-new threat and the potential to revitalize the Air Nomads, Avatar Aang is a visually stunning new chapter, one that also features tons of great nods to both the past and future of the Avatar franchise.

Not only do some familiar faces return, but we also see some key locations and references to both the original Avatar series and The Legend of Korra, which is set later in the timeline. Likewise, there are also a handful of fun cameos voiced by some very fun actors. Keeping that in mind, here are over 20 of the biggest Easter eggs, references, and major cameos featured in Paramount’s new Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender movie.

Gyatso’s Necklace

At the beginning of Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, flashbacks to Aang’s time as a child at the Southern Air Temple precede adult Aang’s return to its ruins, where he finds the charred necklace presumably belonging to Monk Gyatso, his original mentor among the Air Nomads before they were all wiped out by the Fire Nation while Aang was frozen in an iceberg for 100 years.

The Denied – Precursors To The Equalists

Seeking a map to the Staff of Sonam, a group of non-benders calling themselves The Denied encounter and battle Aang. Dissatisfied by their lack of power and the perceived control held by those who can bend, The Denied can very much be considered a precursor to the very similar non-bending Equalist movement/revolution seen in Legend of Korra. The Denied are led by a woman named Kallik (voiced by Geraldine Viswanathan).

A New Opening Bending Sequence

Every episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender begins with an opening monologue from Katara describing the four elements, the attack of the Fire Nation, and the hope that Aang can become the Avatar by mastering every element and save the world.

Similarly, the new Avatar Aang movie opens with a brand-new monologue briefly recapping the entire series with descriptions of each element (water, earth, fire, and air). However, the narration is now shared between Katara, Toph, Zuko, and Aang, with each of them describing their respective element. Likewise, Aang is shown wielding all four elements, while the original opening monologue featured Avatar Roku, Aang’s predecessor.

Republic City

While still fairly new, Republic City has already been built and established during the events of Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender. The city, created by Aang and his allies as a haven for all four nations united as one people, was first shown in The Legend of Korra.

The Secret Tunnel Musical Nomads

As Katara speaks to a crowd on the anniversary of Republic City’s founding and its new Unity Tower, various shots of the city are shown, including the musical nomads Chong, Lily, and Moku. Sure enough, they’re singing the ever-hilarious “Secret Tunnel” song from when they first met Team Avatar in the original series.

“My Cabbages!” – Ken Jeong

The beloved cabbage vendor is also shown in these opening Republic City scenes, hilariously voiced by comedian Ken Jeong for the new Avatar Aang movie. During the movie’s third act, when Dave Bautista’s Tagah attempts to create a new Air Empire, the vendor’s cabbages become an inevitable casualty, prompting what may very well be one of the most hilariously unhinged “My Cabbages!” lines we’ve ever heard. In Legend of Korra, the vendor’s son was the owner and CEO of Cabbage Corp.

Foaming Mouth Guy (& Son)

When Aang returns home to Republic City flying over the crowd, we can see the man from Kyoshi Island known only as “Foaming Mouth Guy” losing his mind in his insane fandom for the Avatar. Even better, it looks as though he now has a child, who’s also shown foaming at the mouth and passing out just like his dad. In the original series, “Foaming Mouth Guy” was voiced by Avatar co-creator Bryan Konietzko.

Aang’s Lightning Scar

As Katara is healing Aang’s wounds after his fight with The Denied, a large scar on his back can be seen. This was where he was struck by lightning during his battle with Princess Azula at the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2. After being struck, Aang briefly died before he was revived by Katara using spirit water. Put in a coma for weeks, Aang also temporarily lost his ability to enter the Avatar state.

The Avatar Cycle

As Aang communes with the spirits of the past Avatars in the cycle to learn about the ancient airbender Sonam, we see several named Avatars from the past, including Avatar Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk, Yangchen, and more, several of whom were featured in both the original Avatar series and The Legend of Korra (before Korra’s connection to the cycle was severed).

Ke Huy Quan – Avatar Xian

Aang eventually finds the eccentric Avatar Xian, an ancient bender from the Earth Kingdom who knew of Sonam. Xian is voiced by none other than Ke Huy Quan, the beloved actor known for his roles in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Goonies, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Zootopia 2, and more.