Avatar: The Last Airbenderis undoubtedly one of thegreatest animated TV series of all time. Despite its cartoonish tone, the show is very mature and suitable for all ages. Nonetheless, not everyone is eager to watch animated versions of certain hit franchises. That’s where live-action adaptations come in, but most of these attempts have proven to be disasters, save for a few, such asYu Yu Hakusho,One Piece, andRurouni Kenshin.
This renowned animated series has finally received a worthy live-action adaptation since many fans of the originalAvatar: The Last Airbenderbelieve the 2010 live-action film was a complete disaster. Thenew Netflix adaptationwas initially announced in 2018 and quickly began production, though the road to release was long.
With the latest previews, fans were highly enthusiastic about it, and Netflix did not disappoint. However, it is not without flaws since many things were changed to fit the story inside the eight episodes. So, how does the new live-action seriesAvatar: The Last Airbenderdiffer from the 2005 cartoon series?
The Live-Action Avatar Is Darker and Less Humorous
The live-action series is far from a bad adaptation because, while not flawless, with dialogues seeming out of place at times, it captured the essence of the original series. However, it went a bit far in terms of world representation and squandered an excellent opportunity to bring one of the original series' best qualities: humor.
In fact, almost every episode of the animated series is elevated by character interactions, whether it’s Katara’s lighthearted yet encouragingmindset or Sokka’sclumsy yet compassionate personality. Moreover, Aang (Gordon Cormier) is usually playful and cheers everyone around him, like Luffy fromOne Piece. All of these traits were replaced by a stronger emotion: resolve.
From the beginning of the series, episodes followed a dark path of tragedy and self-doubt, frequently stemming from Aang’s past, when he was frozen in the ice for a hundred years, unaware that his entire tribe of airbenders had been wiped out by firebenders. It appeals to the modern audience, but adding more lightheartedness would have brought it closer to the original and made viewers feel at home.
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Netflix’s Avatar Features Surprising Early Appearances of Certain Characters
Although the original series was fairly long (61 episodes), it took time to develop the characters and introduce us to the lore ofAvatar’s world. More importantly, it did not rush to introduce thecharacters ofAvatar, with many main characters who would only make appearances in the second or third season. However, the live-action series had many surprises, which worked in its favor because each character was well-written, and the actors delivered phenomenal performances.
Azula (Elizabeth Yu), the daughter of the Fire Lord Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim), for example, is well-known to fans of the original series as a fierce warrior. While many fans are delighted to see her in live-action, she does not appear in the first season of the animated series. This change certainly brought an element of surprise for many since it paved the way for a new storyline for the upcoming season, assuming there is one. Furthermore, Ozai also had substantial screen time inNetflix’s live-action series, which is an added bonus because, despite being such a significant character in the story, he didn’t appear as frequently in the first season of the original series.
Other Changes You Could Have Missed in Avatar
Avatar: The Last Airbender
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In various ways, Netflix’sAvatar: The Last Airbenderhas changed significantly from the original, and below, we will list down all the things we’ve seen differently in thelive-action version, in addition to those stated above. Katara’s journey is more or less identical, except she finds the Waterbending scroll aboard a pirate ship, whereas it was given to Katara (Kiawentiio) by her grandmother in the live-action. However, Aang does not learn Waterbending here, as opposed to how Katara teaches him in the original, which is one of the few acceptable flaws of the live-action series.
Another significant change in Netflix’s adaptation involves the Spirit World. This concept is central to the lore ofAvatar: The Last Airbender,and Netflix’s adaptation deviates significantly due to time constraints. In the original series, only Aang was able to visit the Spirit World to find the lost people, but in Netflix’s live-action series, both Sokka (Ian Ousley) and Katara accompany him.
In addition, the entire plot of Aang seeking the help of Avatar Roku is for a different cause than what was shown in the live-action series. Ultimately, most of these changes worked in favor of Netflix’sAvatar: The Last Airbendersince it was more of an adaptation that brought the original story to life while making key changes to fit in with the target demographic.
Netflix has done a fantastic job of bringing many fans' dreams to life, just not in the way they expected. In particular, it did a spectacular job of establishing certain characters, like Prince Zuko (Dallas Liu) and Uncle Iroh (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), providing both a cinematic spectacle and an emotional rollercoaster.Avatar: The Last Airbenderis currently available to stream on Netflix.
