Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender has been loved by fans and critics alike thanks to its unique world-building, engaging premise, and excellent writing. The show has received critical acclaim and is one of the highest-rated TV shows on IMDb, with particular praise for its story, themes, animation, and art style. The series will be available for streaming from May 15, 2020, on Netflix.
Netflix has picked up the series for a live-action remake, releasing sometime later in 2020. While some fans have to keep themselves busy reading fanfics about the beloved series, others are wondering if the Netflix remake is going to be disappointing, like the 2010 movie. So, here are 10 things fans want to see in the remake.
Tone
One of the reasons Avatar worked so well was its ability to balance dark, somber moments with funny scenes. The majority of the show, however, was quite easygoing and light-hearted.
The remake should have the charm and hopeful tone of the original series. One of the biggest problems the fans had with The Last Airbender movie was that it didn't have the charm and hopeful tone of the cartoon.
Casting
While no official cast has been announced yet, fans are hoping the casting will be appropriate with respect to their characters as well as culturally diverse. Another major problem with the movie was the whitewashing of characters.
Katara and Sokka were inspired by Polynesian and Asian heritage but in the movie, they were played by caucasian actors. The villains were more diverse than the main cast.
Music
The music of Avatar: The Last Airbender was truly phenomenal and ahead of its time. The show is full of beautiful pieces, both emotional and uplifting, although the tracks have never been officially released by Nickelodeon.
The music truly captured the spirit of the show, having zesty tunes during light-hearted moments, and dark, powerful tunes during fight scenes, which enhanced the experience for fans.
CGI
The movie remake of Avatar had some problems with the CGI, mainly with the non-human characters. Appa, in particular, looked like a giant furry monstrosity instead of his cuddly, adorable cartoon counterpart.
The bending CGI was pretty good, and hopefully, a large portion of the Netflix remake's budget will be assigned to visual effects. Netflix's live-action Death Note reboot, despite all its flaws, had amazing visual effects, especially the CGI Ryuk.
Minor Characters
Avatar had some pretty amazing and charismatic minor characters, who were really fleshed out despite not appearing more than a few episodes. Admiral Zhao only appeared for a few episodes in Season 1 but is still a really great character.
Likewise, King Bumi was great as a character as well, and the remake should definitely feature some of these characters instead of cutting them out as remakes often do. Who knows, maybe the cabbage guy could make an appearance.
Humor
As mentioned before, the cartoon was great at balancing humor and dark moments. The goofy, sarcastic Sokka was nowhere to be seen in The Last Airbender movie, much to fans' dismay.
The remake should try to capture the funny, light-hearted charm of the original cartoon. Fans want to see everything, from goofy Sokka to sarcastic Toph to high-strung Katara, and even the sometimes-quippy Aang.
Set Design
The locations of Avatar are just as important as the characters. The world of Avatar is a visual masterpiece, featuring different locations from the icy palaces of the North Pole, to the Air Temples of the Airbenders up in the sky.
The locations not only provide the necessary background for the stories but also expand upon the Avatar universe in a meaningful way. Netflix needs to assign the necessary budget for visual effects as well as set design. For all its flaws, The Last Airbender had some great sets.
World-Building
Avatar did a great job at world-building, especially the bending. The show makes rules for bending and sticks to them, even when introducing new concepts, such as bending lightning or bloodbending.
Bloodbending makes sense since humans are 70% water. Metal bending makes sense since metal is just refined earth, and a powerful enough bender should be able to bend it. The show spends a lot of time establishing rules and making sure the characters follow them.
No Major Changes
If there's one thing Netflix live-action remakes are known for, it's changing up too much of the story. The biggest criticism fans and critics had with the Death Note remake was changing the story completely, and not in a good way. L was basically a secondary character and way less smart than his anime counterpart, and Misa was turned into an antagonist.
Although the series should change some things so it isn't just a shot-for-shot remake, there shouldn't be any major changes that may anger fans. After all, it is a remake, not an adaptation.
Fight Scenes
Avatar had some truly amazing fight scenes, with the characters using some truly creative ways of using their bending powers. Katara water bent her sweat for a fight, and Uncle Iroh blew flames from his mouth to incapacitate multiple enemies.
The remake should take inspiration from the cartoon for some fun fight scenes, like the fight between Aang and Bumi. In the movie remake, the fight scenes were quite lackluster, and although the CGI in these fight scenes was great, the tai-chi and martial arts-inspired movements looked a little ridiculous.