With Netflix's live-action adaptation of the beloved Avatar The Last Airbender nearing its release, there is a fair amount of fan speculation on how good we can expect it to be. There is a relatively significant portion of fans that are of the stubborn opinion that the only thing Netflix should be doing with Avatar is putting the original show up to stream, rather than creating an entirely new live-action take on the 15-year old story.
This mentality might largely be due to the utterly disastrous 2010 film, Avatar The Last Airbender, which took the place of a 4th season of the show and is widely regarded as one of the worst movies of all time. But, while fans remain skeptical, there is a good chance that Netflix's version will either live up to, or possibly even surpass the original.
Won't: The Original Shouldn't Be Touched
Avatar The Last Airbender has a 9.2 IMDb rating, is certified fresh with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and won a Peabody Award, a Kid's Choice Award, and a Primetime Emmy for animation. The show is as close to perfect as any show can hope to be. It was the perfect length, the characters were tenderly and fantastically handled, each made relatable, inspirational, and amazingly complex.
When a show has this kind of cemented success amongst both fans and critics, the concept of a remake becomes questionable, something that is proven by the 2010 film. If the show was really practically perfect, maybe it should just stand upon its pedestal untouched.
Will: Might Be More Adult
Avatar was always a kid's show that showcased adult themes. It showed cruelty, warfare, torture, abuse, death, orphans, and imprisonment, while also touching on themes of love and hatred, morality, and courage. That, combined with the fact that the original audience of Avatar has largely grown up -- it is highly likely that this will be Netflix's target audience.
Netflix is known, especially with their large retinue of Original Content, for showing startling amounts of blood and gore, while telling extremely adult, and often very dark themes. It is doubtful that Avatar will be gory per se, but it is equally doubtful that they will take this opportunity to remake the show as a chance to create a second version of a children's show.
Won't: Voices Will Seem Strange
Sometime in between Seasons 2 and 3 of Avatar, the incredibly talented voice actor that brought Uncle Iroh to life, Mako Iwamatsu, died; he was replaced by Greg Baldwin for the majority of Season 3.
For those who noticed, the difference was stark; Iroh's voice, like the voice of every character in the show, is ingrained in our minds. The format will, of course, be different in Netflix's adaptation, but it will be extremely difficult to get used to beloved characters sounding different than what we know.
Will: It's Netflix
Ever since Netflix began producing its own original content, they have been putting out some truly spectacular shows. Shows like Bojack Horseman and Big Mouth prove they know how to handle cartoons, and shows like The Crown, Dear White People, Stranger Things prove that they know how to produce high-quality drama and action, complete with immaculate writing.
Just this past year, Netflix was nominated for 34 Golden Globes, of which it won 2, and has 24 nominations for the upcoming Academy Awards. For the most part, Netflix does not get behind something if they are not confident it will be done the right way; the streaming giant will not make the same mistakes that M. Night Shyamalan did.
Won't: Characters Will Be Different
This is one of those unfortunate givens when it comes to adaptations, whether or not those adaptations result from books, comics, or older movies or shows. Especially in this case, where the original is a cartoon, the live-action adaptation will look far different than the original.
Appearances will likely (and hopefully) be based on what we know and love, but outfits will be different, as will builds and faces - it is simply impossible to find actors that are the exact doppelgangers of their animated counterparts.
Will: The CGI
When a show or a film refrains from spending the proper amount of money on CGI, the effects are obvious and detracting from the overall quality of the film. The differences between Avengers and Justice League provide a great example of this; Marvel has always ensured that their CGI is as perfect as possible, and while DC has tried to compete, their CGI often looks fake and cartooney, recalcitrant of the laughable CGI from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.
Thankfully, Netflix knows how to properly implement CGI, and they are unafraid of spending the necessary funds to make this happen. Altered Carbon and The Witcher provide firm proof of this. Because the project is under Netflix, it is highly likely that the CGI (which will be so important to a live-action Avatar) will be absolutely pristine.
Won't: The Storyline
While most of the vital events and storylines will likely be represented in the adaptation, it is equally likely that the overarching storyline (as well as the many subplots that were woven in and out of the seasons) will be altered or cut in some way. The biggest aspect of this will probably be the removal of certain filler episodes. Netflix originals normally have 10-12 episode seasons, with each episode being around 40 minutes long.
The seasons will be too short for them to waste time on storylines that are unimportant. On the flip side, the adaptation could run much longer than the original; perhaps one book from the original could be turned into two or three seasons in the adaptation. Or maybe that fourth season, in which an Azula redemption was hinted at, could be explored. Whatever it turns out to be, the story will not be the same as the one we know.
Will: More Avatar
The worst thing about Avatar is that it only had 3 seasons. Some argue that this is for the best, that the story was told to completion. But there is an almost unlimited amount of stories from that world and time period that can and should be told. Regardless of that, this Netflix adaptation is granting us the opportunity to see these characters on-screen once again, and to more intimately understand them than before.
New storylines might be told, new complexities might be added to old characters, and redemption, or a lack thereof, might be explored more completely. More Avatar (bar the 2010 film) is not a bad thing.
Won't: It Was Designed For Animation
The biggest uncertainty surrounding this new project is the simple fact that it is incredibly difficult for something that was designed for animation to translate to live-action. The specific animated imagery is cemented in the minds and eyes of fans; live-action scenery, characters, and actions will be different. The crux of this is bending.
The award-winning animators of the show portrayed bending in a way that it almost certainly can't be portrayed in the live-action version. Plus, the way Avatar was animated was as an art form; it was never designed to look realistic.
Will: The Original Creators Are The Showrunners
Perhaps the biggest reason behind the painful calamity that was M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender is that the original creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, were not involved in the production of the film. But, not only are the pair involved in the production of the Netflix adaptation, but they are also serving as the Showrunners; this gives them an appropriate amount of power to ensure that their story is handled properly.
They would not have taken on this project if they thought a retelling of Avatar would have been a bad thing; this is an opportunity for them to explore storylines, characters, and complexities that they were not allowed to explore during the short duration of the show. They know the story and the characters far more intimately than anyone else. We're sure that they will make sure this is done right.