About one and a half decades ago, Avatar: The Last Airbender anime series left fans unexpectedly with only three seasons as the original creators of the show decided to take their leave. However, that is about to change, as Netflix brings forward a new live-action adaptation of the show, which has been created by a fan of the original cartoon himself, Albert Kim.
Yet, one thing about the much-hyped upcoming live-action adaptation of the anime series is receiving mixed reviews from fans: the fact that it is getting the same treatment that One Piece did, i.e. having a massive amount of its wide extensive plot shrunk down into merely an eight-episode series—something that is more than capable of making die-hard Avatar fans upset.
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Everything We Know About Avatar: The Last Airbender Live-Action
So far, everything we know about Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action adaptation by Netflix includes the fact that it will adapt Book One: Water, i.e. the first 20-episode season of the animated show into a concise but hourlong 8-episode drama format.
But while a new face, i.e. Albert Kim—who himself was notably one of the biggest fans of the Nickelodeon cartoon—was the one helming this live version, the series also holds ideas from the brains of the original animated show creators, Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino. As Kim shared with EW: EW | X
“It ran the range of really nerdy little things that no one except for diehard fans might wonder about — questions about Katara’s mom or Aang’s parentage — to bigger picture stuff about how to translate what made the original so special into a live-action version. This is Avatar: The Last Airbender, but it is our version of Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
Furthermore, while the wide extensive plot of the original show getting shrunk down into merely an eight-episode series would give a ‘strict one-to-one adaptation’ to some of the events of season one, other events will have to be ‘remixed’, as per what the show’s creator said.
For one, “We don’t start the show the way the animated series starts. That was a conscious decision to show people this is not the animated series.” For another, “We had to sometimes unravel storylines and remix them in a new way to make sense for a serialized drama. So I’m very curious to see what’ll happen in terms of reaction to that.”
However, while Kim is excited and curiously awaiting the reaction the series would get, some hardcore fans don’t seem to be mirroring that reaction as this update receives mixed reviews from fans worldwide.
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Hardcore Avatar Fans Aren’t Too Happy With This Update
As soon as this news reached fans that Avatar: The Last Airbender would be finally receiving a live-action adaptation that will seemingly reboot the original cartoon, they were beyond exhilarated. However, the fact that some things will be left behind from their favorite cartoon series in the upcoming show isn’t sitting too well with some die-hard fans.
Here is a sum-up of the mixed reviews that fans have been sharing on X lately:
This will either be really good, or really bad 🤔
— Thomas (@thomas01567) December 19, 2023
I just hope those remixes stay faithful to the story and don’t change too much….
— RJ (@ResonantJustice) December 19, 2023
I don’t get why they did this. For One Piece it makes sense because it’s so long. For Avatar it’s just 4 seasons. They can just do a 1 to 1 adaptation. I see why the creators left.
— NoBlueNaga (@Derpin93) December 19, 2023
why do I have the feeling that it’s going to flop
— neo🇵🇸 (@neolithicobject) December 19, 2023
Season 1 of Last Airbender was 10 hours, more than likely they’ll be doing 1 hr long eps so we’re losing potentially two hours. Definitely going to be more streamlined so we shall see
— Sadakin (@chrishaft) December 19, 2023
The episodes must be an hour long— because there’s no way they covered the entire water book in 8 episodes. There’s so much content and satire that won’t make the screen🥺🤌🏾. They really should’ve just left this alone.
— Jaleel🪄📖✨ (@1Hard2decipher) December 20, 2023
8 episodes?????? for the entirety of season 1????? okay idk how to feel about that 😭
— De-Lo ❤️💚🤍 (@heyitsmedelo) December 19, 2023
Ok, this actually makes sense. Half the episodes were side quests or only had a small payoff down the line, others can have their elements easily consolidated from multiple episodes into just one or two. Not very concerned about this.
— Future POTUS (@YourfuturePOTUS) December 20, 2023
I don’t think I like the sound of this. But if they eliminate needless episodes like The Fortuneteller, The Great Divide, and Imprisoned, then maybe it can work. Idk we’ll see.
— 𝓠𝓾𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓪 👑🤬😈 (@VendettaWP) December 19, 2023
Even though this live-action adaptation is being given a similar treatment to Netflix’s One Piece, which had 45 episodes of the original anime shrunk into eight episodes, it is worth noting that the One Piece live-action version received worldwide critical acclamation despite being so concise.
Moreover, the fact that this upcoming live-action adaptation has been created by people who themselves are massive fans of the cartoon is also a plus point as that increases the chances of the adaptation sticking more to the source material and including a majority of the stuff that most fans must already love.
Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender will be dropping on February 22, 2024, on the streaming giant. Watch the original teaser trailer of the show below:
