Following the interviews and the recent updates on Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender based on Nickelodeon’s famous animated television series of the same name, one thing is clear, the streamer will not inherently follow the same narrative. Although the program creator Albert Kim vowed the series would be close to the source material, the reported updates differ from the claim.
A recent update on the series that followed one of the primary characters, Sokka, and his origin altered for Netflix’s adaptation has created an uproar. The streamer has reportedly butchered the essence of the character by removing his sexist comments in the show, considering Katar’s feministic stance will not make sense. Now, fans are concerned with Netflix’s tweak of Aang’s narrative.
Netflix Tweaked Aang’s Narrative in Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender showrunner and executive producer, Albert Kim, reflected on the upcoming live-action Netflix show and the changes made by the creatives. Speaking with IGN, Kim revealed details of Aang’s character arc in the show. “I think the state of the world and the stakes of the world are still the same. So we decided to make Aang’s narrative drive a little clearer,” he told the outlet.
“In the first season of the animated series, he’s kind of going from place to place looking for adventures. He even says, ‘First, we’ve got to go and ride the elephant koi.’ It’s a little looser as befits a cartoon. We needed to make sure that he had that drive from the start. And so, that’s a change that we made. We essentially give him this vision of what’s going to happen and he says, ‘I have to get to the Northern Water Tribe to stop this from happening.’ That gives him much more narrative compulsion going forward, as opposed to, ‘Let’s make a detour and go ride the elephant koi,’ that type of thing.”
Kim went on to add, “So that’s something, again, that’s part of the process of going from a Nickelodeon cartoon to a Netflix serialized drama.” Kim’s statement explained that change is inevitable. Will Netflix have more changes with the release? Perhaps, but at this point, it is hard to predict, but the reported changes did not have a positive response from fans.
Netflix’s Huge Blunder With Avatar: The Last Airbender
Fans are surprised by the creatives changing the essence of the narrative by altering certain characters’ journeys in the upcoming show. A devout fan who goes by the name of Mark didn’t hesitate to express his banter on X. “This isn’t Avatar the Last Airbender. They’ve entirely missed the point. And I have no clue how,” the user wrote in his post. Further referring to the “thousands of video essays, blogs etc” on YouTube “talking about and dissecting this story down to its finest details.” So, it’s surprising how the creatives missed the fundamental aspect of Aang’s character arc.
“Yet despite this, literal professional writers, missed the single most fundamental aspect of Aang’s character journey? By design, he isn’t responsible! He’s supposed to be a kid overwhelmed by his duty that ran away. His story is literally overcoming this flaw. It’s why he froze himself in the ice to begin the story!!!! People under 10 understand this aspect of the story. Without it, it’s simply not Avatar the Last Airbender.”
The user went on to add that so far, the updates on the series “doesn’t light a fire of hope for” him, but he is very much hopeful to be wrong. “But this is very strange creative choice in my view that stands against the spirit of the original,” he continued. He is all for adding new scenes but urging the showrunners to make sure what they remove does not adhere to the essence of the characters in question.
Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action will debut on Netflix on 22 February 2024.
