Moderator note: Out of respect for tropers who have not seen the original animated series, please spoiler tag plot twists when necessary.
Yes, this is happening, Netflix is taking the Avatar series and doing a live action series.
Just giving it a glance, it's gonna be a challenge, with the high requirements, especially on the main cast.
Edited by Synchronicity on Jan 29th 2024 at 8:11:35 AM
https://twitter.com/KnightGambit/status/1761046271362818370
This made me chuckle
Tis the great art of life to manage well The restless mind
???
Nobody says that. Even the show's detractors say that it's better than the movie even if it's something like "oh, it's better than the movie... but that not a high bar to clear"
I'm not Superman, not Batman, or Spiderman, or Aquaman, or a merman, or a wolfman. I'm not a brahman, or common, or a calman.If I were to give a more specific quality comparison to something else in the franchise....I'd say it's around book 1 of Legend Of Korra. IMO.
I enjoyed book 1 of Legend of Korra, but it did have quite a few rough edges that I can think of that keeps it from being great. That's around the zone I would put the LA show.
Bow to the PrototypeI binged through half of it, so here goes:
I loved how it started off in the before times, but the decision to switch the opening exposition to Kyoshi instead of Katara was misguided. Also, it followed Shyamalan's problem with the length instead of the succinct one the cartoon had. I actually liked the first two episodes more than Omashu, and the kids are doing a great job,...but Gran Gran is a bit wooden. Most of the good changes focus on the villains, and most of the bad ones are at the expense of the heroes...though not all. I think I actually like this Katara better, definitely this Zuko and Azula. The ball was dropped hard for Bumi and Theo...who might as well just be a crippled Haru, and I don't think it was a good idea to pull a Shyamalan and jumble so many parts into one, and to Ba Sing Se-ize Omashu, which was a jolly place with a mail delivery system, was a bad affront. But everything regarding Kyoshi and the warriors was better, they did a great job building up Sukka, and frankly I always thought the sexist angle of Sokka was too hokey anyway, so the angle taken resonated for me better... honestly that might be the highlight The Air Temple segment would've worked better if had kept Momo being discovered before Gyatso's corpse, but the parts at The South Pole were really good...despite Gran Gran's acting. The dialogue is amazing and natural to me, even if the expressions are muted at times.
Non-spoilers: The difference between this and the original feels like the difference between the Lord of the Rings books, and Jackson's movies...with the bonus of Shyamalan's movie being a great stand-in for the 70's adaptation! Meaning that the original will probably not be topped, but this adaptation thus far has really used the medium to its advantage and added in a few nuances here and there and sometimes even simplified for accessibility.
Should the next season be greenlit, I'm very fascinated about Toph and Ba Sing Se...and dearly hoping "Avatar Day" is skipped Especially since Kyoshi's already shown up, rendering it irrelevant anyway.
I mean Kyoshi is already depicted battling Chin the Conqueror in that painting, which never really happened in the animated series unless you consider blowing off his clothes and letting him fall to his death a battle. And there was a brief mentioning that Kyoshi grew up on this island rather than created it, so it seems that Avatar Day as a whole is just unnecessary for the time being. Kyoshi just fought Chin and killed him the traditional manner in this LA series
One of things that baffled me in hindsight of "Avatar Day" was that nobody on Kyoshi Island clarified how Kyoshi Island was created or who Chin really was considering how infamous he was in hindsight (I mean, he nearly conquered the entire Earth Kingdom). It's clear they just wanted an entertaining murder mystery episode and had the benefit of Kyoshi being more of an enigma character. But in hindsight, Kyoshi killing Chin was actually to be expected of her.
Edited by Shadao on Feb 24th 2024 at 10:14:58 AM
The only person who thinks Kyoshi killed Chin is Kyoshi herself, oddly enough. And that's mainly because she herself doesn't think the technicality of him dunking himself to death matters since she caused the circumstances that lead to that (and she would have killed him if things came to that as well.
She'd maybe technically be guilty of ....manslaughter I guess. No intention to kill but still resulting, and I think that's a stretch.
One Strip! One Strip!
FWIW, and perhaps ironically, it seems to me Yangchen is the most brutal Avatar. While it's true the comics would flesh her out to be this way, it's her words to Aang on the lion turtle, not Kyoshi's that were the most memorable for just how jaded they were, yet Aang is more bothered by Kyoshi and the memes go to her.
I'm curious to see how much of her seaps through in Books 2 and 3, should this not end up a Stillborn Franchise.
It almost feels poetic that soon after Gyatso reveals Aang's nature as Avatar in front of her statue, the darkest part of the show thus far occurs next.
I'll watch 5-8 tonight.
![]()
I personally think the circumstances of Chin's death was supposed to be the big punchline to the Chin Village's accusation of Kyoshi being a murderer. Namely that their great leader was actually evil, he lost all his clothes in his "battle" against Kyoshi, and accidentally ends up killing himself, Looney Tunes fashion. It was so hilarious in contrast to the awesomeness of Kyoshi.
![]()
![]()
Aang was trying to argue she didn't kill Chin, so he didn't have to kill Ozai, and Kyoshi wasn't letting him have that out basically. Same with Yang-Chen, same with all of them. He was asking in essence to weasel out of dealing with Ozai and they were all telling him, no sorry, you got to deal with this. The world is more important than you.
(These are spoilers for the end of the animated show for the uninitiated
Edited by dcutter2 on Feb 24th 2024 at 7:53:23 PM
And they were right.
Though they all told him they had to kill Ozai, which did seem to be the only way to deal with him Well, even that's not true. I don't think any of them said outright that he had to kill Ozai, just that he had to stop him. It's just that killing him seemed to be the only way to stop him until Aang bumbledfucked around that lion-turtle.
One Strip! One Strip!![]()
Only Yangchen told him to kill Ozai (well, to sacrifice his own spiritual needs for the good of the world); Roku, Kyoshi, and Kuruk just told him to be decisive, to do whatever it takes for justice to bring peace, and to shape his and the world's destiny. Three of the past avatars gave him some wiggle room, only one told him to kill
Edited by jdeo1997 on May 5th 2024 at 11:25:59 AM
Attachments are not the problem, Indifference is. Keelah se'lai![]()
I like what implies in the original animated series. That Zhao's Siege of the North was a diversion and the real battle was at Omashu. And that Zhao's self-proclamation of being the Moon Slayer, conqueror of the Northern Water Tribe, and all that shit was never gonna be anything but a footnote for Ozai's campaign. No wonder nobody remembered him after that, be the Ember Island Play or Aang's children 70 years later.
This series started and ended the same way.
With a bluff involving the Earth Kingdom.
First Sozin made the Earth Kingdom think they were the target, while he punched the Air Nation in the face with a flaming fist. Then Ozai made an actual target of the Northern Water Tribe, when he really wanted to take down Omashu in the Earth Kingdom. As a bonus, Zhao, footnote that he is, did do a lot of damage to the Northern Water Tribe, which means that when Ozai is ready to go after them, they'll be easier targets.
One Strip! One Strip!Ok, time for some "Thoughts"
Episode 5: Flirty June is a way more interesting dynamic with Iroh than the semi Dirty Old Man going on, and it was excellent Adaptation Distillation to mix Koh, the Fog of Lost Souls from Korra, and even a little nod to "The Swamp"...except it's not Toph and it's not Aang who gets that sight. Gyatso is still goated. Also liking Azula here and how she plays off of Ozai. Probably the strongest episode thus far
Episode 6: Okay, starting to like this Zhao, perfect balance between the super serious rage guy voiced by Lucius Malfoy and the complete loser played by the pizza guy from Spider-Man 2. I'm enjoying this take on Roku as well, pretty cool that he got past Koh...also great comics Easter Egg too. Liked how both June and Zhao got combined, but The Blue Spirit part was...well...I can't believe I'm saying this but Shyamalan did this part better. This part was too fast, too close to the cartoon...only showing Zuko slightly slitting Aang's throat was anything interesting. And just like Shyamalan's movie, The Blue Spirit being Zuko is too obvious and doesn't have the suspense, since Jet is literally the only other option and they barely interacted. I do appreciate Aang getting a longer moment with Zuko though, though I do question how this will be play in Book 3, if it happens. After something like that,that deep, how in the world is Aang supposed to get reluctant and say no? And how much hollower will it be if Katara doesn't trust him...I mean, he's probably going to have to literally Heel–Face Turn in Ba Sing Se now for simplicity if this is the type of dialogue going on...or he's going to have to seriously regress...see it made sense for Aang to hide a small moment from Katara...but this is far too much. I'm bummed he didn't name drop Kuzon though...The switch from Ozai rebuffing Zuko's refusal to Zuko showing mercy was a cool choice. Okay, this episode is better.
Zulu is still not as effective as Aaravos regarding the voice of Koh, and its malpractice whoever said this one was deeper. I do think Koh was better utilized, despite this.
Episode 7: The "death of Zuko" is a wonderful Cold Open, and I like that Aang didn't hide things from Katara about Zuko, but I'm slightly worried about the implications of Book 3 now. Moving on, The North being welcoming without the capture was nice change...even if it's a bit more Crapsaccharine than the show. Yue is improved though and her being a waterbender is awesome, great acting...still too bad they could get the original LA Yue/Asami to cameo somewhere, oh well. Oh wow, did not expect Kuruk, also a nice addition.
Episode 8 Zuko vs Katara wasn't long enough nor had the same build-up, also he never got to kidnap Aang. This got cut for some reason by having Katara get defeated at the same time Tui died...and for some reason it's with the stupid knife thing, when just firebending the bag should've been fine. I know its handwaved by it being a special knife for spirits (seemed implied), but it doesn't look as cool, and it harks back to the movie. Also not a fan of Zhao's demise...great fight with Zuko, but his death is lame, even with the Pretender Diss. It's not poetic like the cartoon...and with so much on the Fog of Lost Souls here, this would have been so easy, and it's not delicious like when the four waterbenders from the hood pulled up and busted out some sick bubble action like the movie...it's just a bland murder. What's even more jarring is how The Ocean Spirit is there too, and somehow even scarier! Great acting for Katara and Yue. Also, not sure how I feel about Azula already in Omashu and no declaration of Iroh and Zuko as traitors...which even Shyamalan did...I know it fits a bit more with both this Ozai and Comics Ozai to take a Social Darwinist approach so Zuko being left alone for living fits...but it begs the question: Now what?
Also we didn't see Katara actually learn anything from Pakku or do anything, there was no class at all, this kinda pushes it and I wouldn't be surprised to see Rey comparisons because of this.
Edited by terlwyth on Feb 24th 2024 at 1:49:31 PM
Spoilers for the animated series ending.
Just this week, the Overly Sarcastic Productions youtube channel made a video on the Last of Their Kind trope, and made a pretty compelling case for why Aang and Yangchen's situations aren't as comparable as they may seem on the surface.
Basically, the argument was that "sacrificing Airbending principles" to save the world carries different weight for Aang. Yangchen had other Airbenders to carry on the twachings that she, as the Avatar, might not be able to. Aang is the LAST Airbender. Sacrificing his philosophy means sacrificing a last remanent of the Airbenders.
Edited by diddyknux on Feb 25th 2024 at 11:39:27 AM
![]()
Weirdly though the novel actually emphasised that the Avatar usually had a group of companions (traditionally but not always people who trained along side them as they learned the disciplines of their non-native elements) the show seemed to emphasise the Avatar as a solitary figure and Aang bucking the trend.
Which makes me wonder if that was at least part of the reason Bryke parted ways with the production as their narrative pushed back against a concept they were actively trying to encourage.

I've watched only the first four out of eight episodes so far, and I started out feeling a bit mixed about the whole thing on the first episode, and while it certainly has its fair share of issues, I've kinda started liking it overall. It's not perfect, but I don't hate it either.
I wasn't sure how to feel about Sokka's initial sexism not being part of his character arc in this version when I first heard about it, but when I got to the second episode, I honestly really came around on it. Yes, it's definitely one of those "why fix what wasn't really broken?" moments, but I respect it nonetheless.
I felt similarly about having the prologue be the Air Nomads getting wiped out by the Fire Nation, but I actually quite like how it turned out for the most part. Establishing and emphasizing Aang's friendship with Gyatso, while also world-building and establishing the world as it was 100 years prior to the main events of the series.
There's legit some good humor in this (mid-sentence Gilligan Cuts will always make me laugh out loud). The pacing is a bit weird sometimes, especially in the first episode; it feels like it kind of drags its feet a bit before it actually gets going. After that though, it kind of finds its footing.
The acting and writing sometimes falls flat, particularly during monologues, but after watching the Star Wars prequels over and over as a kid, I've kinda gotten used to hokey lines and the way they're delivered.
I think Daniel Dae Kim and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee are absolutely nailing it as Ozai and Iroh, respectively. Both of them are perfect casting. And I'm very pleased to see James Sie make his way into the live-action version as the cabbage merchant.
The music is quite good, the placement of said music? Rarely not so much, such as the Title Drop moment mentioned below. Other than that? It's really nice to hear the various leitmotifs from the original series. I recognized the name of the composer; Takeshi Furukawa was an orchestrator and composer on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, as well as the 2010 remake of GoldenEye 007.
There were a few moments that felt very cheesy and made me kind of facepalm a little bit; Gran-Gran's exposition in the first episode partly consisting of Katara's narration from the original series, followed up with the inevitable Title Drop ("he is The Last Airbender™"), was a particularly narmy moment for me, especially when the music started swelling a bit on said Title Drop.
All in all, it's not as good as the original series, but definitely better than the movie in my eyes.
Edited by AngrokVa on Feb 24th 2024 at 1:20:31 PM