With Avatar: The Last Airbender premeiring later within the month, Netflix has progressively began to tug again the curtain on its adaptation of the 2005 cartoon. The present was by no means going to be an entire one-to-one of the unique, however it does really feel like a number of the additions and tweaks to the show—like tampering down Sokka’s sexist behavior—don’t fully get why they existed within the supply materials to start with.
One fascinating transfer the brand new present’s making is a remixing of storylines from the present. The largest is bringing in Zuko’s (Dallas Liu) household into the image a lot sooner—his father Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim) and sister Azula (Elizabeth Yu) have expanded roles right here in comparison with the small slices of them within the cartoon’s first season. Showrunner Albert Kim advised IGN it helps flesh out “why [Zuko’s] doing what he’s doing and set that within the context of his household dynamic, and the way he matches in together with his father and sister.” And it’s equally why Zuko’s duel together with his father—which was briefly proven in a flashback, leading to his scar and exile—shall be extra introduced in full right here.
Having Zuko’s household be extra distinguished right here—Kim stated Azula basically will get a prequel forward of her meatier materials in future seasons—is a transfer any newer adaptatioin would make. Different selections are up for debate, although: as a substitute of being a child making an attempt to keep away from being the Avatar, Aang (Gordon Cornier) can have extra “narrative drive,” stated Kim. Reasonably than him, Katara, and Sokka getting swept up in weekly misadventures, he’ll get a imaginative and prescient early within the season that spurs him to go to the Northern Water Temple for a Waterbending grasp. The imaginative and prescient “provides him extra narrative compulsion going ahead,” which is only a fancy means of claiming there received’t be a lot in the way in which of worldbuilding detours that gave the unique Avatar its attraction.
Of the modifications, Kim stated he views the brand new present as “a remix, not a canopy.” Whereas he and the writers knew there have been sure characters and plot factors to do faithfully, they couldn’t be a slavish recreation. The important thing purpose was “feeling your means all through the method,” whereas additionally “ensuring it feels prefer it was Avatar in spirit.” However a number of the updates on a personality stage really feel like they may miss the mark: Katara received’t have “sure roles” within the group dynamic as a result of “some gender points didn’t fairly translate.”
Like with Sokka, the Water Tribe’s sexism and Katara’s function as crew mother are two elementary components of the unique present that had been atively addressed and used to additional character arcs. They weren’t simply there for the sake of it, and by admitting a wish to “guard towards that sort of stuff,” it makes the variation’s writers really feel like they’re afraid of characters rising and being messy or annoying in spots. Nickelodeon’s Avatar was a present for kids, however it understood that children will be imply and harmful, to themselves and particularly each other or these they love, one thing this new one is seemingly making an attempt to sand over as a result of character arcs have to be sacrificed for likability.
I cherished the unique Avatar once I was 12 and rising up, and nonetheless do, however it wasn’t excessive artwork. So stuff just like the examples above, plus Kim saying it “can’t simply enchantment for youths,” can’t assist however get on the nerves. The brand new present wasn’t going to please everybody, as a result of nothing can. However in making an attempt to make the present hit for followers and likewise people who find themselves excessive on Sport of Thrones (which, there’s in all probability a better overlap of these two than we expect?), it appears like Netflix isn’t fully certain what it needs the present to be apart from “one other live-action Avatar.”
We’ll discover out for certain when Avatar: The Final Airbender involves Netflix on February 22. IGN’s full dialogue with Kim and sequence director Jabbar Raisani will be learn here.
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