So apparently, the live action ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ will be a little different from what we’ve seen in the animated series all those years ago.
Cast members Kiawentiio (Katara) and Ian Ousley (Sokka) revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that Sokka’s sexism in the earlier seasons of the animated series will not be included in the live action The two mentioned how the character arc was discussed during the show’s development and was later on “deliberately” cut away at.
“There’s more weight with realism in every way,” said Ousley, who will soon personify Sokka, Katara’s older brother. “I feel like we also took out the element of how sexist [Sokka] was. I feel like there were a lot of moments in the original show that were iffy,” said Kiawentiio, who will soon be seen as the waterbender Katara.
Other than that major change involving one main character, showrunner Albert Kim also said in an earlier interview that the show will not begin with how the siblings from the Southern Water tribe found Aang and his flying bison Appa in the iceberg. The live action will also see some events that had only been indirectly hinted upon in the animated series, such as the Air Nomad Genocide, and possibly, the beginning of the Hundred Year War.
In revealing this, Albert Kim said, “That was a conscious decision to show people this is not the animated series. We had to sometimes unravel storylines and remix them in a new way to make sense for a serialized drama.”
Another interview with Albert Kim, this time with IGN along with Jabbar Raisani, revealed that the live action will see characters Azula and Fire Lord Ozai having a larger role to “balance out the storylines”. The two characters mentioned were not originally seen in the animated series’ first season.
“…We needed to know more about the background for Zuko, and why he’s doing what he’s doing, and set that in the context of his family dynamic, and how he fits in with his father and sister.”
Kim also revealed in the interview that the show will not detour from the main storyline and explore the side adventures in contrast to the animated series, to make Aang’s narrative to become clearer. “We needed to make sure that he had that drive from the start. And so, that’s a change that we made. We essentially give him this vision of what’s going to happen and he says, “I have to get to the Northern Water Tribe to stop this from happening.”
“Avatar: The Last Airbender” creators Bryna Konietzko and Michael Dante Di Martino were both originally involved in the development of the live action series for two years, and definitely shocked fans when the two announced their exit due to “creative differences.”
Fans didn’t take too well to the changing of some of the characters’ elements (Sokka’s sexism, Aang being a child, Zuko receiving his burn scar, etc.), with some citing that this may be the reason why the original creators left the show and that the remaining showrunners do not understand their source material at all.
This isn’t Avatar the Last Airbender. They’ve entirely missed the point. And I have no clue how.
This might be the most talked about series of the century on YT. There are literally thousands of video essays, blogs etc talking about and dissecting this story down to its finest… https://t.co/uPs99PUxJp
— Mark (@TotallyNotMark) February 2, 2024
The more that comes out the more I understand why the og creators left.
— NoBlueNaga (@Derpin93) February 2, 2024
So they’ve completely missed the point of Aang’s journey and character arc in Book 1. He was a kid thrust with so much responsibility at a young age. He wanted to be able to have a childhood; have fun, until forced to confront the reality of how important his responsibility was. pic.twitter.com/xFqe1s2k9s
— RJ (@ResonantJustice) February 2, 2024
The 'AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER' live-action is toning down the sеxism for Sokka because it "might play differently [in live action]", (per Variety)
Sokka in this scene realizes how stupid his sеxist views were and begs the Kyoshi Warriors to teach him.pic.twitter.com/6LMhkhTHTc
— ScreenTime (@screentime) January 30, 2024
https:/twitter.com/GrowWithDisney/status/1752158865372721300?s=20
Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender live action might ruin Aang’s growth too. Making the story more focused & less episodic makes sense for the new genre. But he HAS to start as a goofy kid, so when he does take responsible, it’s worthwhile. Without it, this won’t hit the same: https://t.co/qkWKBylZNl pic.twitter.com/sxpyoDwCDx
— Growing Up With Disney (@GrowWithDisney) February 2, 2024
If only there were adults that just like avatar the last airbender https://t.co/iaWpELuT60
— kenzie (@pk_kenzie) February 2, 2024
Ozai will no longer mutilate Zuko in the live action “Avatar: The Last Airbender”.
“These kinds of things can be seen as problematic” the show runner explained. “Times are changing, and dad’s can’t get away with burning their child’s face and banishing them anymore” pic.twitter.com/75xYahX3AG
— Sammy Tighe (Follow me on B.Sky) (@TigheSammy) February 1, 2024
Sokka's sexism is kind of the point. We break down what his character development reveals throughout the 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' series. pic.twitter.com/SfZqsMJwIG
— NowThis Impact (@nowthisimpact) February 4, 2024
This show was never just for kids, any age could enjoy the peak fiction that was Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Netflix…if y’all ruin this I’ll never forgive you. https://t.co/kBnoTRIzVm pic.twitter.com/LYYw8LyitX
— Wock Lee 🐉 CW: HXH ⭐️ (@WockLeeLives) February 2, 2024
#AvatarTheLastAirbender showrunner says they had to find a balance where the series appeals to OG fans and then people who liked #GameOfThrones
"It couldn't just be for kids"
(via @IGN) pic.twitter.com/iHbf5koZdD
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) February 2, 2024
see here's the thing
Avatar the Last Airbender is basically the epitome of a perfect show, so a live action remake with changes for changes sake is automatically gonna be a worse show that's just what the math says yall 🧮— Loading Buns… (@SuperButterBuns) February 2, 2024
It's become clear why the creators of the original show left https://t.co/d1PYJe8diy pic.twitter.com/Wjum8F23YI
— Johnnyboy (@Johnnyboy194) February 2, 2024
Could they have missed the point ANY harder? If Aang was the kind of kid who runs straight at his responsibilities, he wouldn’t have gotten stuck in ice for a hundred years https://t.co/LqTfCa4em5
— Geoff Thew (@G0ffThew) February 2, 2024
This isn’t Avatar the Last Airbender. They’ve entirely missed the point. And I have no clue how.
This might be the most talked about series of the century on YT. There are literally thousands of video essays, blogs etc talking about and dissecting this story down to its finest… https://t.co/uPs99PUxJp
— Mark (@TotallyNotMark) February 2, 2024
NOOOO
NOOOOOOOFIRST SOKKA'S SEXISM, NOW AANG'S WHIMSY
NEXT THING YOU KNOW THEY ARE GONNA REMOVE THE CABBAGE MERCHANT https://t.co/zckLEUxWYg pic.twitter.com/KeOu74Tld1
— cha CHA! CHASKA! | COMMS OPEN 😀 (@chaska_draws) February 2, 2024
What are your opinions on these changes? Is the Netflix adaptation still good enough to give a chance?
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