After The Walking Dead and Invincible, Steven Yeun Joins Another Beloved Franchise

Steven Yeun joins the animated Aang Avatar movie in an undisclosed character.
Yeun’s rising star is evident from his varied roles in films and voice acting in different projects.
The Avatar film, directed by Lauren Montgomery and William Mata, will be released on January 30, 2026.

Steven Yeun’s career continues to flourish. The Walking Dead alum is joining another fan-favorite franchise.

Yeun, a Korean-American actor, catapulted to fame after portraying Glenn Rhee in AMC’s The Walking Dead. His character was a fan-favorite due to his purity, kindness and bravery. His brutal death in the series left many brokenhearted. Aside from the hit gritty drama that was set following a zombie apocalypse, Yeun has starred in numerous shows and movies, including Burning (2018), Minari (2020), Nope (2022) and Netflix’s Beef(2023), where he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series. He also voices the lead character Mark Grayson in Amazon Prime’s Invincible. A new report confirms that the award-winning actor is joining another beloved franchise.

Yeun is the newest cast member in Paramount Picture and Nickelodeon Movies’ still-untitled animated Avatar film about Aang, the main protagonist of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Variety reported. There is still no detail about his character. The cast members who were previously announced included Dave Bautista, Eric Nam, Dionne Quan, Jessica Matten and Román Zaragoza. Lauren Montgomery and William Mata will co-direct the film. Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who wrote the Avatar: The Last Airbender series, are producing it, along with Maryann Garger and Latifa Ouaou. Yeun is not entirely new to the Airbender universe because he was involved in The Legend of Kora. He voiced Wan, the first Avatar.

The rise of Yeun’s star power is not surprising at all because he is a brilliant talent. In 2020, he was nominated for Oscar’s Best Actor for his role in Minari. However, Anthony Hopkins bested him and the other nominees — Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), and Gary Oldman (Mank) — for his impressive portrayal of an elderly man with dementia in the drama comedy The Father. Yeun’s latest movie entry is Bong Joon Ho’s comedy science fiction Mickey 17, where he joined a stellar cast ensemble, including Robert Pattinson, Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Ackie, and Toni Collette. Yeun had just finished filming Netflix’s thriller RIP with Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Sasha Calle, Néstor Carbonell, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Kyle Chandler, Scott Adkins, and Lina Esco. However, Yeun is currently filming another project, Netflix’s Animal, directed by Affleck. Yeun was supposed to be part of Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Thunderbolts*. However, he decided to leave the project due to a scheduling conflict. According to the actor, the delay in production due to the SAF-AFTRA strike affected his schedule, so he had to let go of the project. However, he clarified that he was still open to doing a Marvel movie. Although his role in the anticipated MCU tentpole wasn’t officially announced, there were rumors that Yeun was supposed to play Robert “Bob” Reynolds, aka Sentry, whose ability is comparable to DC Comics’ Superman.

Yeun is an excellent talent on- and off-screen. Being cast in the upcoming Avatar movie is not really surprising. Yeun’s portfolio includes several voice-acting projects. Aside from voicing Mark Grayson in Invincible, he also voiced Keith in Voltron: Legendary Defender (2016–2018), Steve Palchuk Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia (2016–2018), and Speckle Tuca & Bertie (2019–2022). The characters that Yeun voice have different personalities –– Mark Grayson is a teenager with superpower struggling with his father’s legacy; Steve is cocky but heroic; and Speckle is a fun and supportive bird character. This only shows how versatile Yeun is in pulling off those characters. So, whatever his role is, he will surely excel.

The Aang Avatar film is slated for release on January 30, 2026.