The Last Airbender: Live Action on Netflix!

[fionwe1987]

https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/18/17874472/avatar-the-last-airbender-netflix-live-action-tv-reboot

 

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“We’re thrilled for the opportunity to helm this live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender,” the pair said in a press release. “We can’t wait to realize Aang’s world as cinematically as we always imagined it to be, and with a culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed cast. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build upon everyone’s great work on the original animated series and go even deeper into the characters, story, action, and world-building.”

No Racebending, then!

Well, this was completely unexpected. Production is to being in 2019, so maybe we see it in 2020. They have most of the story, but I'm sure they're going to want to expand the world building a bit, and ease into the mythic elements in Korra, which, I suspect, we will certainly see on Netflix if this works out well.

Here's hoping they knock it out of the park.

[Werthead]

On the one hand, it would probably have been more satisfying to have seen a continuation of the story, or a new story in the same world. But Avatar is massively iconic and the story is tremendous, so I understand why they've gone in this direction. The original showrunners directly showrunning this is also fantastic news. They absolutely hate Shyamalan's version, so "fixing" it makes sense.

If I did have some concerns, it'd be that the original showrunners weren't the only people involved in A:TLA. Giancarlo Volpe and Aaron Ehasz were also key creatives, but presumably their commitment to the (excellent) Dragon Prince means they won't be able to help much (if at all) on this show.

[polishgenius]

17 minutes ago, Werthead said:

but presumably their commitment to the (excellent) Dragon Prince means they won't be able to help much (if at all) on this show.

Wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that their connection on that was what led to this and even if they're not directly involved will probably be exchanging thoughts with the other two.

One thing I hope they fix from the tv show is better deal with Aang's pacificm throughout the show, rather than bringing it up as a major focus at the last possible time in a move that seemed fairly obviously a result of network interference with how the story was going to go originally.

[fionwe1987]

25 minutes ago, Werthead said:

On the one hand, it would probably have been more satisfying to have seen a continuation of the story, or a new story in the same world. But Avatar is massively iconic and the story is tremendous, so I understand why they've gone in this direction. The original showrunners directly showrunning this is also fantastic news. They absolutely hate Shyamalan's version, so "fixing" it makes sense.

Exactly how I saw it. Also, a post-Korra Avatar would almost certainly be in a much more techy world, which may not be the vibe they want. I think Avatar, and especially Korra, have a lot going for them in live action. If they can expand the world here, and set the stage for Korra, they have two good shows with a very solid story already.

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If I did have some concerns, it'd be that the original showrunners weren't the only people involved in A:TLA. Giancarlo Volpe and Aaron Ehasz were also key creatives, but presumably their commitment to the (excellent) Dragon Prince means they won't be able to help much (if at all) on this show.

Volpe directed, and Ehaz was head writer and director, right? Since most of the story is written already, I think their loss will be felt less, and directed animation is different from directing live action, so they were bound to need new people for those roles.

Bryke as EPs gives me confidence they'll keep the feel of the world, and most importantly, NOT mess with the characters.

Dragon Prince was great, though. But I wanted more than 9 episodes.

As for Aang's pacifism... it was built up pretty well, I thought? The solution for how he could remain a pacifist and defeat the Firelord was presented in the last minute, and I hope worldbuilding will be expanded in the show so we get to see the Lion Turtle, the original benders, etc. seeded in earlier. Mentions of Raava and Vaatu, and Avatar Wan would be good, too. Knowing that all benders received the ability from Lion Turtles earlier would make it a lot more easy to swallow the Avatar being able to take it away.

[polishgenius]

5 minutes ago, fionwe1987 said:

 

As for Aang's pacifism... it was built up pretty well, I thought?

It was mentioned from the start, but it's never really made A Thing, and there were times when death happened, even by his hand at at least one point, and it didn't phase him at all.

Spoiler tagging coz there may well be people who ain't seen the show reading this:

In the finale of season one, when he turns into the giant moon spirit thing and goes ape and wipes out the Fire Nation force. Now granted he wasn't in control of himself there, but it was still

him and it feels like it should have bothered him given his later characterisation, but it never comes up. Feels like in a remake that's a perfect spot to show him freaking out then dealing with it and using that as the start-point for building to his strong emotions over it much later.

[fionwe1987]

16 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

It was mentioned from the start, but it's never really made A Thing, and there were times when death happened, even by his hand at at least one point, and it didn't phase him at all.

Spoiler tagging coz there may well be people who ain't seen the show reading this:
 

  Hide contents

In the finale of season one, when he turns into the giant moon spirit thing and goes ape and wipes out the Fire Nation force. Now granted he wasn't in control of himself there, but it was still

him and it feels like it should have bothered him given his later characterisation, but it never comes up. Feels like in a remake that's a perfect spot to show him freaking out then dealing with it and using that as the start-point for building to his strong emotions over it much later.

 

Hmmm...

Spoiler

I'm not sure anyone is shown as dying. I certainly don't remember any deaths from those episodes. Zhao seems to, but that was definitely not Aang, and also, we find out later he was only taken to the Fog of Lost Souls, not killed.

I mean, obviously, it is a little hard to buy that with all those ships being drowned, no one died. But it was still very much in the kids show mode then, and we always see soldiers parachuting out, or merely being injured, never dead.

And in the very first episode of Book 2, when Aang is being forced into the Avatar State by the Earth Kingdom general, they talk about Aang's fears of how violent and powerful he gets when he's in the Avatar State. It really is explored quite a lot.

 

As for deaths happening around Aang, we only see one, and that one was left ambiguous, in Book 2. Am I missing others?

[Bastard of Boston]

I'll be cautiously optimistic given who is showrunning. But I'd still rather have more cartoons based in this world.

[fionwe1987]

34 minutes ago, Bastard of Boston said:

I'll be cautiously optimistic given who is showrunning. But I'd still rather have more cartoons based in this world.

I have a hope that they'd do that, too, if this clicks. There's plenty, from Aang and Korra's lives, that can be animated. Its a pretty deep world, with a lot of storytelling opportunity. No reason they don't do multiple shows and maybe even movies.

[red snow]

40 minutes ago, Bastard of Boston said:

I'll be cautiously optimistic given who is showrunning. But I'd still rather have more cartoons based in this world.

It just seems a complete waste of the creators talents to remake their own show. Give us the story of another avatar past or present animated or live action than a retread for those who think cartoons can be dismissed as just for kids.

I'll stick with the dragon prince and might consider rewatching the original if the hype rekindles my interest 

[fionwe1987]

9 minutes ago, red snow said:

It just seems a complete waste of the creators talents to remake their own show. Give us the story of another avatar past or present animated or live action than a retread for those who think cartoons can be dismissed as just for kids.

Well, I think live action unfortunately does command a larger audience, and Avatar absolutely deserves a wider audience. As long as "re-imagining" they talk about doesn't involve making the story more "gritty", I'll be fine with it.

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I'll stick with the dragon prince and might consider rewatching the original if the hype rekindles my interest 

Hopefully, the animated version ends up on Netflix, again. It is unavailable to stream, at the moment, except if you've purchased it, which is a bizarre situation.

[red snow]

46 minutes ago, fionwe1987 said:

Well, I think live action unfortunately does command a larger audience, and Avatar absolutely deserves a wider audience. As long as "re-imagining" they talk about doesn't involve making the story more "gritty", I'll be fine with it.

Hopefully, the animated version ends up on Netflix, again. It is unavailable to stream, at the moment, except if you've purchased it, which is a bizarre situation.

I noticed it's about to be taken off Amazon prime in UK. I'm guessing that's because the live action deal includes getting the back catalogue.

For me the animation was a big part of what made the show work. The budget is going to need to be pretty big if they want to keep all the animals and athletic action in. Also live action requires a bunch of strong young actors which is trickier than using voice actors although I guess they can make the main cast play young adults rather than 12 year olds. That's something that will make more sense with live action. The older characters in the korra show would be a better fit

[Spring Bass]

I'm looking forward to this. I wouldn't be surprised if Netflix is hoping this become a big international hit as well (I wouldn't be surprised if they do a lot of the filming that requires extras at a site in Asia). 

2020 is going to be a wild year for new giant fantasy streaming shows. There's going to be one every month. 

[fionwe1987]

1 hour ago, red snow said:

I noticed it's about to be taken off Amazon prime in UK. I'm guessing that's because the live action deal includes getting the back catalogue.

For me the animation was a big part of what made the show work. The budget is going to need to be pretty big if they want to keep all the animals and athletic action in. Also live action requires a bunch of strong young actors which is trickier than using voice actors although I guess they can make the main cast play young adults rather than 12 year olds. That's something that will make more sense with live action. The older characters in the korra show would be a better fit

I'm pretty sure they'll have a huge budget. Given that there's been a previous, shitty attempt at this, Netflix had to have known that anything less than really good is going to flop massively. There's a very passionate inbuilt fanbase with this show that's theirs to lose. And especially after the widely praised visual flair of Korra, anything less in this show will be heavily panned. So I'm hopeful they know, going in, that this will need a huge budget. 

As for the actors.. they may indeed pick 14-16 year olds, instead of 10-12 year olds, to make it easier to find a good cast. That's going to be key, too. The actors are going to have to have the range to play goofy to serious scenes. And you're right... they have an excellent voice cast to be compared to. 

[The Anti-Targ]

I feel like a live action remake can only be less good than the og, so I question the sense of doing it at all. But that may be because I still have a bad taste left after seeing the horrible movie.

[fionwe1987]

32 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said:

 the horrible movie.

What movie? So far as I know, this is the first attempt at a live action version of the story. 

[The Anti-Targ]

49 minutes ago, fionwe1987 said:

What movie? So far as I know, this is the first attempt at a live action version of the story. 

Must have been a bad dream I had, where some hack director with an undeserved reputation was given charge of this beloved story to predictably butcher it so badly that...then I wake up in a cold sweat.

[fionwe1987]

4 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said:

Must have been a bad dream I had, where some hack director with an undeserved reputation was given charge of this beloved story to predictably butcher it so badly that...then I wake up in a cold sweat.

It sounds like a familiar dream. Hopefully, folks at Netflix had it too, and it makes them really want to avoid it becoming a reality in their network.

[Spring Bass]

A live-action remake is not going to be a shot-for-shot copy of the original animated version. The overall story and characters will be the same, but how that gets played out will likely be quite different because of the change in medium - there's a lot you can do in animation that just doesn't work well in live-action (or is far too expensive, even for a high-budget Netflix show). 

As for different stories, a live-action show doesn't need to end where the original animated series ended. It could continue onward, borrowing stuff from the comics to build storylines. I'm also skeptical that there's a big audience (so far) for TV stories set in the same universe - when they did Legend of Korra, the ratings largely declined both across episodes within the same season and from season-to-season (until they yanked it from a TV release mid-season in Season 3). 

[A True Kaniggit]

4 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

Must have been a bad dream I had, where some hack director with an undeserved reputation was given charge of this beloved story to predictably butcher it so badly that...then I wake up in a cold sweat.

Did this dream take place in a movie theater? Because I had one eerily similar.

[red snow]

3 hours ago, All Souls Bass said:

 

As for different stories, a live-action show doesn't need to end where the original animated series ended. It could continue onward, borrowing stuff from the comics to build storylines. I'm also skeptical that there's a big audience (so far) for TV stories set in the same universe - when they did Legend of Korra, the ratings largely declined both across episodes within the same season and from season-to-season (until they yanked it from a TV release mid-season in Season 3). 

I'd probably start tuning in when they start covering ground beyond the original. Some of the comics had potential but a tv show can cover more ground, more quickly.

I think we have to be careful with how we judge korra ratings as I recall Nickelodeon really messed the show around with changing timeslots, multiple episodes on random days and eventually dumping it on their stream site