What does David Jung have common with Ozai from Avatar? Butterfly lead Daniel Dae Kim has an answer

Daniel Dae Kim
Daniel Dae Kim's David Jung in Butterfly | Image Via: Prime Video

As Daniel Dae Kim's latest Prime Video series, Butterfly, is streaming in its entirety, the actor sat down for an interview two days ago, on August 13, 2025, with the Los Angeles Times. In that interview, the actor said something that surprised a lot of people. Draw a parallel between the six-episode Prime Video series and another iconic franchise, Avatar: The Last Airbender.

If the American actor of South Korean descent is to be believed, despite Ozai being an antagonist and Butterfly's David Jung being a protagonist, both of them take action for the same reason. What separates David from Fire Lord Ozai is how the former feels about the action, i.e., abandoning his child.


What did Butterfly's Daniel Dae Kim say about David's similarities to Fire Lord Ozai?

For the uninitiated, the Prime Video spy thriller show Butterfly follows former American spy David Jung, who abandons his child (daughter) and establishes a new life in South Korea after faking his death. He abandons Rebecca for her safety, where she is found and raised by Juno. Fire Lord Ozai, on the other hand, is very different.

The central antagonist of Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the series' darkest villains. Be it the original version of the Netflix live-action version, Ozai exiles Zuko for the same reason; the Fire Lord deems that the Prince doesn't follow the same leadership style he does. But despite the different reasons behind the abandonment, Daniel Dae Kim said this to the Los Angeles Times:

"They’re different. But for me, the core of it is the same: What does it mean to be a father guiding a young life and a young psyche? Ozai makes the choice where he needs his child to follow in his footsteps in terms of leadership and style. And if his child cannot do that, then his child fails. His priority is on the mission. I think for David, it might have been that to a lesser degree, but now he’s realized that that’s not the choice he wants. Can someone have a second chance at being a good dad? That, to me, is something that is very human. It’s very universal. People say about the show, “Well, it’s shot in Korea. It’s got an Asian lead and it’s about an Asian family. I don’t know if I can relate.” If you have children, or you’ve had parents, you can probably relate to what’s going on in this show."

However, what differentiates David from Ozai is that the former is a comparatively better father, who made the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of his child. And, when Rebecca returns to his life, David looks at it as an opportunity to right his wrongs, something Ozai would never do. Instead, Ozai is someone who turns Azula and Zuko against one another.

"Butterfly is a character-driven spy thriller that explores complex family dynamics within the treacherous world of global espionage. It's centered on David Jung (Kim), an enigmatic, highly unpredictable former US intelligence operative living in South Korea, whose life is blown to pieces when the consequences of an impossible decision from his past come back to haunt him, and he finds himself pursued by Rebecca (Hardesty), a deadly, sociopathic young agent assigned to kill him, and Caddis, the sinister spy organization she works for."

What do you think of Butterfly actor Daniel Dae Kim's words? Let us know. The Prime Video action series is available to stream on the OTT platform.

Edited by Ravikumar N