The Netflix live-action series Avatar: The Last Airbender which is set to premiere on the 22nd of February, has already created a lot of talking points. Not all of the hype though, is positive. The series which follows the narrative made popular by the 2005 animated show of the same name, is garnering some criticism for its character development.
Fans were not pleased with the significant change made to Ian Ousley’s Sokka, whose sexist nature which was pivotal to the discovery of Aang, has reportedly been curbed to avoid offending audiences. In addition, there were also fears that Aang’s importance in the series would be diminished. But actor Abone Martinez who plays Master Pakku in the live-action series, assured fans that his character will remain intact.
Avatar: the Last Airbender Will Not Tamper With Master Pakku
The popular animated show Avatar: the Last Airbender will be seen as a live-action series on Netflix which is due to release this month. The show which became very popular with fans across the world, faced criticisms for a few modifications that were made to the central characters in the live-action version. While the sexism of Ian Ousley’s Sokka which is integral to the storyline has been softened to counter offending reactions from viewers, discussions about Aang’s Avatar State were also highly debated online.
Amidst these trepidations from fans regarding the show, actor Abone Martinez who plays the mighty waterbender Master Pakku in the series, gave fans renewed hope when he revealed that his character would play out exactly the way he was seen in the animated series.
Master Pakku is depicted as a misogynist who teaches waterbending skills to Aang but refuses to do the same for Sokka’s sister Katara. This partisan attitude is pivotal to the storyline and Martinez believed that it will not be tampered with. In a now-deleted Reddit comment (via Escapist Magazine), the actor answered a fan’s query regarding speculations about his character and said,
“Might not be wise to expand a comment somebody made and broadcast it as an absolute. I played the dude and without his bias, there is literally no character. Whole world in waiting — about to be pleasantly surprised.”
Beginning as a supporting character in the storyline, Master Pakku goes on to influence the narrative later on, which then makes it important for the live-action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender to get the nuances of the role right.
This Villain Will Get More Screen Time In Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender
Amidst the fears of characters being diluted in Netflix’s live-action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender, there are also positive additions to the story that could get fans excited to watch the show. In one major difference, executive producer Albert Kim revealed that the antagonist Azula who featured mostly in the second season of the animated show, will get a bigger and more important arc in season 1 of the live-action version.
In an interview with IGN, Kim elaborated on the details and said that the plotline will focus more on the Fire Nation narrative which involves Aang who reappears after 100 years to vanquish the Fire Lord Ozai. Kim believed that merging these parallel plotlines and characters including bringing in Ozai’s son Zuko into the mix, was mandatory for the show.
“Azula is one who, in the animated series, you don’t really see until Season 2. But we made the conscious decision to bring some of those Fire Nation storylines more to the fore in the first season because I felt like we needed to balance out the storylines. We needed to know more about the background for Zuko, and why he’s doing what he’s doing, and set that in the context of his family dynamic, and how he fits in with his father and sister.”
The producer was confident that these changes to the narrative would enhance the story and the characters while giving audiences a deep dive into the development of the plot as early as Season 1.
Avatar: The Last Airbender will stream from 22nd February 2024, on Netflix.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (animated series) is streaming on Amazon Prime.
