The upcoming Netflix live-action series, Avatar: The Last Airbender is already getting some hatred because of people’s prejudice for past animes converted into live-action films or series. With Netflix slowly reviving the genre with One Piece and the upcoming Avatar series, it seems that the streaming giant is on the right track.
Well, there is one slight problem though. The creator of the live-action show decided to change the timeline of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Although he gave a valid reason for the significant change, the fans will surely miss this one thing when the live-action drops.
There Is A Major Change In Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender!
Well, it seems that the difference between the animated series and the upcoming live-action series will be quite evident. Fans may know about Sozin’s comet that worked as a clock in the universe of Avatar. Well, that clock will not be a part of the live-action series.
Showrunner Albert Kim revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he ran into a Stranger Things problem. With the casting of child actors in the role, factors like puberty, adolescence, and growing up greatly affect appearances. Well, Albert Kim revealed some interesting things about Sozin’s Comet and the concept used by the original animated series.
“All three seasons of the animated series essentially take place in the course of one calendar year. There was no way we could do that. So we had to design this first season, especially, to accommodate the possibility of some time elapsing between the first and the second season.”
He further continued,
“The comet was their ticking clock. We removed that particular ticking clock from our show for now because we couldn’t know exactly how old our actors would be for the subsequent seasons.”
Although the shooting of season 1 ended in 2022, Gordon Cormier, who portrayed the character of Aang was 11 years when he auditioned. Well, he is now 14 years old. Albert Kim revealed that they thought they had accommodated for puberty, it surely doesn’t seem so!
Avatar: The Last Airbender Wants To Accommodate For Puberty!
As the interview further continued, Albert Kim ran into a point called the Stranger Things problem. With children and the physical changes that show with puberty and adolescence, Kim thought they had it figured out.
“We definitely thought about that going into season 1 so that we can accommodate for puberty, adolescence, time passing — all of those fun things that happen to real-life human beings that don’t happen to animated characters.”
With the first season on the verge of release, Avatar: The Last Airbender is slated for a release date of 22 February 2024 in the U.S. The live-action series will be available to stream on Netflix and with the plans that Kim was talking about, it seems that people are in it for the long run.
