John Boyega has an idea for an Avatar: The Last Airbender show, and he is very interested in starring in it. Boyega rose to fame while playing the rebel stormtrooper Finn in Disney's Star Wars trilogy, though he already made his mark on the sci-fi world with the film Attack the Block. Last year's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker marked Boyega's last time playing Finn, and he's indicated he's ready to move on to new things. Boyega was recently in the news for his passionate Black Lives Matter speech that was given at a rally in London and stirred up a wave of support for him from those in Hollywood.
Avatar, meanwhile, saw a resurgence in popularity this year following its arrival on Netflix. The beloved animated show follows Aang, the young titular Avatar, as he embarks on his destiny to master all four elements and stop a hundred year war. Avatar has long been praised for its unique world-building and complex characters, and fans are eagerly awaiting the new live-action adaptation coming from Netflix. While it was announced back in 2018, very few updates have arrived since then.
Boyega recently seemed to hint he's an Avatar fan on social media, which caught the attention of Giancarlo Volpe, a director and artist who worked on the series. Volpe wrote, "Hmmm this tweet implies John Boyega watched the original show and that makes me sorta excited." In response, Boyega playfully said, "When you lot are ready to have the benders in Africa explored let me know!" Plus, he made sure to attach a GIF of Aang showing off his excellent bending moves.
Avatar's world was heavily inspired by Asian culture, and fans are hoping that will translate into the live-action Netflix show. Avatar's previous live-action attempt, 2010's feature film The Last Airbender, received much criticism for its decision to cast white actors in key roles like Aang and his friends Katara and Sokka. While director M. Night Shayamlan sought to honor the show's Asian roots by changing the pronunciations of certain names, the overall effect was diminished by the whitewashing.
When keeping that in mind, it makes sense that Boyega instead indicated his interest in African benders. And truthfully, that sounds incredibly interesting, though Avatar is so steeped in Asian culture that it would be hard to imagine it any differently. Nevertheless, Boyega's comment certainly indicates there are numerous diverse stories out there just waiting to be created and told. Hopefully Netflix's Avatar series can live up to fans' expectations and honor the culture it was inspired by, though it is slightly disappointing that Boyega will likely stay out of it.
Source: John Boyega/Twitter