Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors played a key role in Avatar: The Last Airbender, but were cut from M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender movie. The animated series was a huge hit, so it didn't take long for Hollywood to begin eyeing how a movie adaptation could be made. In early 2007, Nickelodeon and Paramount hired Shyamalan to write, direct, and produce a live-action The Last Airbender trilogy.
As with any adaptation of source material to a new medium, Shyamalan's The Last Airbender featured many deviations from what fans loved about the original animated show. The film was mired in controversy over the decision to whitewash the main cast, but the movie format also meant the story of season 1 had to be trimmed down significantly to tell it in less than two hours. This meant the removal of several elements from Avatar: The Last Airbender, including the Kyoshi Warriors. The all-female fighting group played a significant role throughout the series, so why weren't they in the movie?
The decision to keep the Kyoshi Warriors out of The Last Airbender was not the original plan for Shyamalan. He actually filmed multiple scenes with them for the film, but removed all of them during the editing process. Shyamalan said in an interview with ONTD in 2010 that cutting the Kyoshi Warriors was his "single most difficult decision." The director revealed his reasoning for leaving the Kyoshi Warriors on the cutting room floor had to do with them not having a role in the third act.
Although significant sequences with the Kyoshi Warriors were filmed for The Last Airbender, almost none of their scenes have been released. They are briefly seen in one deleted scene, but Shyamalan decided against releasing the rest of their scenes. At the time, there were still plans for The Last Airbender to get a sequel and Shyamalan knew the Kyoshi Warriors would have to factor into the next movie. Since the sequel would have to introduce the Kyoshi Warriors to the audience, Shyamalan thought it would be counterproductive to show a different planned introduction for them.
As it stands, the Kyoshi Warriors have yet to make their live-action debut since The Last Airbender never got a sequel. The good news for fans who are anxiously waiting to see Suki and the rest of the team again is that they should have a role to play in the live-action Netflix series. With the original creators involved, there is a reason to believe that Netflix's version will be much more faithful to Avatar: The Last Airbender than Shyamalan's movie. There be enough time for the Kyoshi Warriors to appear in the live-action show, and maybe even in a larger role than they had before.