Avatar: The Last Airbender, Netflix’s upcoming big release, has a lot of hype centered around it. The teaser and trailer of the live-action adaptation have not only attracted the fans of the OG show but also the general audiences. One of the makers’ primary challenges was to keep the show balanced. They wanted it to cater to both young fans and mature audiences who are fans of shows like Game of Thrones.
It must be noted that Avatar: The Last Airbender is a classic Nickelodeon animated series. Although it differed from other regular animated shows, it had its fair share of humorous moments and silliness. According to the makers, it was not easy for them to find the right balance between a kids’ show and a Netflix drama.
Did Netflix want Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action to be different than animation?
Avatar: The Last Airbender is hailed as one of the greatest animated shows ever. Audiences and critics have graced the show with several prestigious awards. Earlier, when M. Night Shyamalan attempted to bring the animated world of Aang to live-action, it was a disaster. However, the visuals of the Netflix version have the fans believe that it will be much better this time.
The Nickelodeon animated series is also highly praised for touching themes usually avoided in a kids’ show. The series was praised for exploring themes of war, genocide, and imperialism. But it could not be denied that it was still a kids’ show at its core. Seemingly, this posed a significant challenge to the makers who had to make sure, it did not become too much of anything.
In an interview with IGN, the writer of the showrunner, Albert Kim, stated that they also wanted to incorporate mature themes of shows like Game of Thrones into the upcoming show. They not only wanted to cater to the young audiences but also the mature masses.
“So for us, it was about striking that right balance, of making sure you were true to the DNA of the original. But at the same time, we had to make it a serialized Netflix drama, which meant it couldn’t just be for kids. It had to also appeal to the people who are big fans of Game of Thrones. And so, it had to feel grounded and mature and adult in that way too. So that’s, like I said, the tightrope that we have to walk.”
The makers addressed that the live-action adaptation has dealt with several mature elements that are not there in the OG show. Some moments that are only discussed in the animated series are openly shown in the Netflix series. The makers admitted that they had put their trust in the audience and the actors that they would be able to handle such mature themes. However, the makers have also acknowledged that the mature themes are there in a balanced manner.
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Casting was also a major challenge for the Netflix series
Another prominent challenging factor for the Netflix series was the casting. The makers wanted to be appropriate with the ages of the characters and did not want to cast younger or older actors to play the role of Aang and his friends. Albert Kim addressed that they knew it would be the hardest part of the entire process.
“We always knew that casting this show was going to be probably the biggest challenge of them all because you’re asking a hell of a lot from some very young performers. And I always knew that we wanted to be age appropriate in our casting. We did not want to cast a 20-year-old to play a 12-year-old. We needed a 12-year-old to play a 12-year-old.”
However, when the auditions were conducted and the makers came around Gordon Cormier, he proved as one of the best choices for Aang. Interestingly, the project was so top secret, that even Cormier did not know that he was filming for the role of Aang. But Albert Kim added that nobody could do it better than Gordon Cormier, who was exactly 12 when he was cast.
Even though the change in Sokka’s character has disappointed several fans, the breathtaking visuals and details did not fail to attract the audience. It looks like the upcoming show has also nailed the action sequences from the OG series. Now it will be seen if it can mimic the magic of the Nickelodeon show or repeat the fate of the Shyamalan film. The series is slated to be dropped on February 22, 2024 on Netflix.
