Why Princess Yue From Netflix's Live-Action Avatar: The Last Airbender Looks So Familiar
Netflix's upcoming adaptation of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" — a Nickelodeon animated adventure series set in a world where the elements can be manipulated by a select few and, among these, only one can manipulate all four — stirred powerful opinions from the moment of its inception. This fervor only grew when Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko (the creative minds behind the animated series), who originally signed on to mold the Netflix live-action iteration, infamously left the project over artistic differences with the studio. For better or for worse, the project continued beyond their departure, and now it looks as though the casting process is complete.
In an infographic shared on Twitter by accounts like Netflix Geeked, it was revealed that George Takei would portray Koh the Face Stealer (most likely in voice only, the thing IS a giant centipede monster, after all), Danny Pudi would portray the Mechanist, Utkarsh Ambudkar would portray King Bumi (it's as yet unclear to what age he will play the century-old monarch), Arden Cho would portray June, and Amber Midthunder would portray Princess Yue. For our purposes, let's focus on Midthunder, an actress whose credits span two decades but have grown more impressive over the last few years. Here are a few of her career highlights.
Amber Midthunder is a human trafficking survivor in Priceless
In 2016, Roadside Attractions released "Priceless," also known as "Priceless: She's Worth Fighting For," an American Christian romantic drama film. Loosely inspired by real events, the story follows James Stevens (Joel Smallbone, whose brother directed the film), an ignorant truck driver who accidentally delivers two women to a sex trafficking ring. He figures out his mistakes way too late, but at least he spends the rest of the movie trying to fix it, so he's got that going for him.
In "Priceless," Amber Midthunder portrays Maria, one of the two women that Stevens nearly condemns to a fatal journey. She's a young and hopeful woman who aspires to be a singer. "Priceless" strips her of hope and shows her in one of the worst situations imaginable.
As noted on the late Roger Ebert's review site, "Priceless" was, at least in part, created to help raise awareness about the modern presence of human trafficking, and Midthunder's charm was palpable, but beyond that, the movie fell flat.
Amber Midthunder is a body-sharing mutant in Legion
In 2017, FX released "Legion," an American science fiction, psychological thriller, and superhero series tangentially connected to the "X-Men" franchise. Yes, that's a lot of genres for one property — "Legion" relishes in its many hats. The story follows David Haller (Dan Stevens), a mutant with powerful psychic abilities that suffers from both schizophrenia and the unique burden of housing a parasitic mutant called the Shadow King, inside of his head. Also, there's a war going on that involves post-apocalyptic factions and a group of demons called the Time Eaters and an excessive amount of confusing jump cuts, there's just a lot happening all at once.
In "Legion," Amber Midthunder plays Kerry Loudermilk, an unlucky mutant who shares her physical form with Carey Loudermilk (Bill Irwin). Their history is an odd one, as they were technically born at the same time, in the same body, to a Native American couple. This wouldn't have been an issue, were it not for the fact that Carey is the dominant mind in their shared corporeal form and, when he's in charge, they appear as a white man ... yeah, see the problem?
The series received three seasons and was ultimately canceled in 2019.
Amber Midthunder is a jaded teen in Roswell, New Mexico
In 2019, The CW released "Roswell, New Mexico" (the show, not the town, but that would be a cool twist, right?), the second American science fiction drama series based on the "Roswell High" novels by Melinda Metz. In broad strokes, this version of the story follows Liz Ortecho (Jeanine Mason) as she returns to her hometown after ten years away, only to discover that her old crush, Max Evans (Nathan Parsons), is an extraterrestrial. Don't worry! He's still human-shaped he just happens to have superpowers and glitters sometimes, it's chill.
In "Roswell, New Mexico," Amber Midthunder portrays Rosa Ortecho, Liz's very dead older — now younger, thanks to how much time passes — sister who Max sacrifices himself to resurrect (he also gets resurrected, it's a whole thing). Rosa is notably artistic and is described as loving everything from music to poetry to dance to drawing. She's also incredibly cynical, a natural side effect that follows a tragic childhood and being murdered at a young age.
The series received four seasons — which is less than half the number of books in Metz's series — and was ultimately canceled in early 2022, along with most of The CW's ongoing catalog.
Amber Midthunder is the Predator's predator in Prey
In 2022, Hulu released "Prey," an American science fiction action horror film that serves as a prequel to the ongoing "Predator" franchise. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg (whose credits include "10 Cloverfield Lane" and "Black Mirror" and "The Boys"), the story takes place in 1719 North America and follows Naru (Amber Midthunder), a Comanche warrior who defends her tribe from a Predator. The film features other talents, such as Dakota Beavers, Dane Robert DiLiegro, and Michelle Thrush, but the gravity wholeheartedly revolves around Midthunder's role.
In "Prey," Naru is a clever, brave, and lethal force, who Midthunder portrays with a compelling complexity that unquestionably carries the film from the first shot all the way to when she decapitates a Predator and wears his blood like war paint. According to Rotten Tomatoes, both critics and audiences adored the film, with the critics loving it just a little bit more. To summarize, "Prey" is a rare victory that pretty much left everyone pleased and proved Midthunder's star power. There's an Avatar-themed "moon power" joke in there, somewhere, but we're too lazy to figure it out. Ah well.