The highly anticipated Avatar: The Last Airbender has been released today. The series follows the story of Aang, a 12-year-old Avatar, capable of mastering all four elements. He must defeat the Fire Nation to end a century-long war.
Surprisingly, the live-action adaptation is receiving negative reviews. Its failure is due to a screenplay that was poorly done. They tried to fit too much into a short time, draining the life out of the story.
But before the show was reviewed by ruthless reviews, the original creators of the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender lost respect for it due to a very straightforward reason.
Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Disappointed Original Creators
Avatar: The Last Airbender first began as a Nickelodeon animated series by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko in 2005. It deals with topics like war and friendship in a kid-friendly way.
Netflix then announced a live-action adaptation in 2019, with DiMartino and Konietzko as showrunners. But, they left in 2020, and Albert Kim took over the project. The Netflix remake aimed to have a cast of Indigenous and Asian actors, reflecting the series’ Asian and Indigenous influences, martial arts, and settings.
It’s true that original creators, that both OG creators were hired to lead the Netflix adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. However, they left because they felt Netflix didn’t support their creative vision. DiMartino wrote in a now-deleted open letter (Via EW):
“When Bryan and I signed on to the project in 2018, we were hired as executive producers and showrunner. In a joint announcement for the series, Netflix said that it was committed to honoring our vision for this retelling and to supporting us on creating the series. And we expressed how excited we were for the opportunity to be at the helm. Unfortunately, things did not go as we had hoped.”
DiMartino described leaving the project as “the hardest professional decision I’ve ever had to make.” He noted that Netflix’s live-action adaptation “has the potential to be good.” But he was certain that it wouldn’t be what he and Konietzko “had envisioned or intended to make.”
The two now continue their involvement with Avatar content by leading Avatar Studios at Nickelodeon. They’re currently working on a new animated movie featuring Team Avatar as adults.
Will There Be a Season 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender Live Action?
No official announcement has been made for Season 2 of the Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action remake, but it’s still a possibility. The Executive Producer and Showrunner of the Netflix series told Entertainment Weekly about setting up season 1 weeks before its release:
“There’s still a lot of work that has to be done, and it’s a race to the finish line at this point. So right now, that’s all I’m consumed with. I don’t want to think about tomorrow yet.”
Kim recognized that there was a gap in time between the animated and live-action versions. They made sure to plan it all out so that it matched up with the ages of the actors.
Watch the live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix.
