Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender Features the Perfect Cabbage Merchant Cameo

The Cabbage Merchant's place in Netflix's live-action adaptation is just about as perfect as perfect can be.

By Evan Valentine

While there have been quite a few supporting characters introduced in Avatar: The Last Airbender's universe, there is a special place for the character known as the "Cabbage Merchant". The showrunners of Netflix's new live-action adaptation took the opportunity to pepper changes into the story but made sure to keep certain elements that made the source material so beloved. When it comes to the purveyor of cabbages, the streaming service was able to nail the arrival of this live-action iteration in several ways.

The Cabbage Merchant was voiced by actor James Sie in the Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series. While it would have been impossible to have the voice actors who played Aang and his young friends reprise their roles in a live-action format, the showrunners of the Netflix series were more than happy to have Sie reprise his part. Despite not having a role in the fight against the Fire Nation, the Cabbage Merchant became a hilarious running gag in the original series and returns when the live-action Avatar visits Omashu. The seller of cabbages not only loses his edibles when Zuko attempts to capture Aang, but we also witness Bumi and Aang hilariously destroy the cart in the Earth Kingdom City. 

Cabbage Man Crosses Generation

If you haven't had the opportunity to check out Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender, you can check out the introduction of the Cabbage Merchant below. Much like the original animated series, no cabbage is safe when Aang and his friends find themselves in hot water. 

In a recent interview, Avatar's showrunner Albert Kim discussed how the arrival of James Sie to the live-action series was a big event for the cast, "I've got to say, we had a lot of big names. He was probably the biggest celebrity we had on set. Everyone wanted to take a selfie with James, especially when he got into his costume, myself included."  

Avatar: The Last Airbender's first season is currently available to stream on Netflix, with all eight episodes arriving on the streaming service. At present, it's a little too early to know if this new take on the Avatar will receive a second season, though they'd have more than enough material to cover should the live-action adaptation continue. 

What other voice actors from the original series do you think could reprise their roles in live-action? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Avatar. 

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