The basics: The original series ran for three years and won an Emmy Award, a Peabody Award, and acclaim from critics and young viewers alike. Then, what once required weekly reservations and viewing became an object of nostalgia in the streaming era. (And guess what? It works.)
Eventually, Netflix sniffed an opportunity and announced a live-action film adaptation in 2018. Six years later, his eight-episode first season premiered on Thursday, making the live-action adaptation a reality. What's all the fuss about? What makes this avatar different from all the others? And is there also a “sky bison”? read.
“Avatar”…but is that different?
You're thinking of James Cameron's Avatar movies. His next work will be released in 2025. No relation.
this Avatar — Fans might say it's a better Avatar. – Takes place in a fantasy world. There, some people can control or “bend” his one of the four elements (air, water, earth, fire) and one special, occasionally reincarnated person (avatar ) can control them all. That is Anne, the main character. He is recognized as a child with a big blue arrow on his head. In the series, a 12-year-old boy runs away from home and is frozen for 100 years, during which time the Fire Nation of the show's world eradicates the Airbenders and begins a war with the two remaining elemental nations.
At the beginning of the series, Aang is discovered by the Southern Water Tribe brothers Katara (a waterbender) and Sokka (who can't bend, but at least has a cool boomerang), who take him to an empty bison named Appa. help guide you on a cross-border adventure. Learn how to bend all the elements to save the world. There was a problem with this fun adventure. They are being pursued by Zuko, the exiled son of a Fire Nation lord, who must deliver the Avatar to his oppressive father.
Didn't they already make this into a movie?
Oh, that movie? Fans don't like to talk about the movie.
It was made into a film in 2010 by director M. Night Shyamalan, but fans accused him of whitewashing the Asian-inspired story. Names were mispronounced, a white actor played the indigenous Sokka, and various characteristics were confused (or so fans felt). To its credit, it did feature a young Dev Patel. Either way, enthusiasts said the film failed to capture the soul of the series and ruined the expansive story. That's why fans were so excited to see a live-action adaptation that was more faithful to the original.
Why should I, as an adult, care about such things?
Since its first run, Avatar: The Last Airbender has been recognized as a cultural phenomenon that far surpasses any other mid-2000s anime in both quality and longevity. When was the last time you heard people calling for a live-action “Krypto the Superdog” series?
There's always been a candle burning in the hearts of Avatar fans, but Netflix's acquisition of streaming rights to the anime during the pandemic has suddenly increased their affinity for the series. “Avatar” was the most-watched children's show on Netflix in 2020, and the 11th most-watched series of the year on the platform, according to research firm Circana.
Why does it resonate? Well, it's a found family story woven around well-developed lore, humor, and a deeply human cast. A cloak of reality covers each character, sadness often marring their joy and happiness providing light to the shadows. Also, although it is a children's show, its treatment of complex themes such as war is personal and even hopeful. Put all this together, and as Kotaku's Kirk Hamilton writes, “'Avatar: The Last Airbender' is one of the great TV shows of our time.”
This spans three seasons of a children's TV show and a terrible movie?
In fact, it even had a spin-off series and a few comics. Additionally, there are a number of new Nickelodeon animated series and movies on the way. Briefly, The Legend of Korra, which aired from 2012 to 2014, is set 70 years after the events of the original series and tells the story of Aang's next Avatar. Anne's next avatar is named Cora, a member of the Southern Water Tribe who discovers and learns about underground criminal activity. To airbend from Aang's adult son.
The next animated series, scheduled for release in 2025, will be set 100 years after the events of Korra and focus on the Avatar changing Earth. Other planned animated offshoots include an Aang and Co. adult film, a movie about Zuko, and his two unnamed shows.
Will this live-action series work?
Reviews were far from glowing. Variety wrote: “The series is far from the mess that M. Night Shyamalan's haphazard, whitewashed film adaptation was, but fans wish the streamer had left DiMartino and Konietzko's masterpiece alone. right.”
Once inside, there were several red flags. Original series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko signed on as executive producers and showrunners for the live-action series, but left the project in 2020 due to creative differences with Netflix. did. Konietzko added that a “negative and unsupportive” environment contributed to the departure.
Can I watch it with my child?
Yes, but be prepared for some conversations. Avatar's stories emphasize the value of love, destiny, kindness, and humanity in all its forms, as well as heavier themes such as parental death, abuse, inequality, genocide, and war. Meanwhile, how cool would that boomerang look?