The upcoming live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise is set in a fantasy world inspired by East Asian cultures. Nearly 20 years after the well-liked anime counterpart, it is getting a live-action remake.
It consists of four nations representing the classical elements: Air Nomads, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Water Tribes.
The Netflix show follows the story of Aang (a twelve-year-old Avatar) who tries to stop the Fire Nation from conquering the other three nations.
On top of that, there’s also a hidden link between the live-action and Marvel’s Shang-Chi that is not widely known among fans.
The Unnoticed Connection Between Avatar: The Last Airbender and Marvel’s Shang-Chi
Avatar The Last Airbender features a world inspired by Asia, with characters who can manipulate elements through bending. Surprisingly, this bending is based on real martial arts techniques. The martial arts style, in fact, is connected to Marvel’s Shang-Chi. It is Firebending.
Firebending is all about power and aggression. Sifu Kisu chose Northern Shaolin as the main style for this element. It comes from the Shaolin Monastery in Henan, China.
Northern Shaolin is a popular style of Chinese martial arts. It’s famous for its aggressive moves, quick kicks and jumps, circular hand motions, wide stances, and agility.
Originally, monks there trained with staffs and spears before learning unarmed combat. Unlike airbending (which focuses on internal martial arts), firebending flag up physicality and external techniques.
Firebenders often use long-range attacks, similar to the techniques seen in Northern Shaolin, when they shoot fire from a distance.
Just like Shang-Chi, other characters from the Marvel movie influenced the martial arts styles in Avatar: The Last Airbender. For instance, Wenwu in Shang-Chi used Hung Gar Kuen, which served as the basis for Earthbending in the show.
Then there’s Airbending in Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is inspired by Baguazhang—the same martial art used by Shang-Chi’s mother.
Master Martial Artist Shaped Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Authentic Fight Scenes
For Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko (creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender), it was crucial that the animation’s martial arts techniques look authentic. So, they enlisted Sifu Kisu to help them identify which martial arts styles matched each element (via Business Insider).
Kisu, who’s also skilled in Tae Kwon Do, Karate, and Jujitsu, worked on all 61 episodes of the show. He made sure the fighting styles were accurate by choreographing each fight scene and acting them out for the animators to use as a reference.
Interestingly, the swordmaster Piandao is designed to resemble Sifu Kisu. Initially, the creators planned to use Kisu’s appearance for Master Pakku, Katara’s waterbending teacher in Season 1.
Avatar: The Last Airbender will debut on Netflix on February 22, 2024, and will consist of eight episodes.
