With the new trailer for Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the animated series “Avatar the Last Airbender” released, there is a lot of online discourse on the highly anticipated show. The source material has been a highly regarded piece of media ever since it came out, with fans considering what a live action remake would be like. The first taste of what it could be like was the infamous M. Night Shyamalan remake, “The Last Airbender”, which came out in 2010 and adapted the first book, or season, of the series. In my opinion, this film was a garbage dumpster fire, with most of the people who also saw it agreeing. With the combination of white-washed casting, slow and boring fight scenes, and awkward changes to the story, I found it disgracing a show I have loved my entire life, permanently leaving a sour taste in my mouth at the thought of a live action remake of the show.
Netflix announced their remake in 2018 and how the original creators and writers, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, would be the executive producers and writers of the show. At first, this was good news to the fans because the M. Night Shyamalan version did not involve the original creators at all. In my opinion, even after hearing the creators would be big part of the project, I was still hesitant about the project because a live action remake of the series, in general, was never something I wanted or felt like was needed (my qualifications to talk about this are that I have an Avatar the Last Airbender tattoo and had an Avatar themed 6th birthday party).
However, the last selling point that depleted my hope I had for the show was when, in 2020, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko stated that they would be leaving the Netflix show after working on the show for two years due to creative differences. DiMartino stated, “But what I can be certain about is that whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make” and that they “couldn’t control the creative direction of the series.”
My fear of them leaving the project is because of the possible choices Netflix made to fit the Netflix narrative. This could include adding more romance and love triangles, decisions out of character for the cast, making some characters or scenes more sexual or lustful to draw in a bigger audience, and even downplaying some of the more mature issues and topics such as genocide, abuse, and imperialism. One recent example was just revealed is that the new show will remove Sokka’s initial sexism at the beginning of the series. Cast members “informed fans that Sokka’s sexism was discussed during the live-action show’s development and was deliberately cut away at, as it had no place in the new remake,” because some moments in the original were “iffy.” While at first this may seem like a progressive move, I believe it is the opposite. Unlearning his sexism is a major aspect of Sokka’s character development and growth in the first season. The experiences he goes through undo his way of thinking and he learns more about respect and leadership. His sexism shows the particularly younger audience how to learn and grow and undo thinking they might have. Ultimately, my loyalty is with the original showrunners, and their choice to leave the project told me what I needed to know.
While this is the primary reason I don’t think the new adaptation will be good in my opinion, there are various other reasons I think there will be problems with the show. Firstly, I’m not a huge fan of this recent trend of live action remakes and think a lot of them are unnecessary. Some I think have been more successful and influential than others, but most have overall been unappealing to me. I think animation worked as the perfect medium for “Avatar the Last Airbender” because it one, allowed for an appeal to a younger audience, but also allows for beautiful visuals of things that would otherwise be closer to unachievable in a real-life setting. The various, and often huge, feats of elemental bending can be shown through the 2D animation style and what the directors want the show to look like isn’t as restricted.
Secondly, usually with a live action remake, it’s to fix or improve things from the source material and reimagine it, but I believe the original animated series is aging perfectly and if/when it does need to be updated, I don’t think it has been long enough since it aired for this to happen. Lastly, this is more or a pet peeve of mine, but if a the “live action” is mostly going to be CGI and 3D computer generated and essentially animated, what’s the point of going from one type of animation to another?
Also, I want to acknowledge that my disinterest over the new live action has nothing to do with the casting, besides Sokka’s actor allegedly lied about being indigenous, or the talented young actors that play these iconic characters and how excited they are to be involved in this massive project. I think it’s great they didn’t whitewash the characters and have a show with all Asian and indigenous cast and representation. Furthermore, I think the effects on the bending look pretty good from the trailer and I like that they are keeping a lot of the original soundtrack. Altogether, I understand why so many people and fans are excited about this project and a potentially more accurate and honorable adaptation, but I cannot find myself too hopeful or eager for it.