Janet Varney, who plays the titular role in The Legend of Korra, recently spoke about her character being the opposite of her predecessor, Aang. The Legend of Korra is a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, taking place 70 years after the original series. Avatar: the Last Airbender (2005-2008) tells the story of Aang and his journey to end a 100 year-long war while struggling with the responsibilities he has as the Avatar.
The Legend of Korra follows the next Avatar, Korra, after Aang’s passing. Throughout the four-season run, Korra has multiple traumatic experiences, despite seemingly having a much easier start to being the Avatar than Aang. Alongside Varney, the series stars Seychelle Gabriel (Asami), P. J. Byrne (Bolin) and David Faustino (Mako). Gabriel was already familiar with the universe, having played Yue in The Last Airbender (2010). Despite the 2010 film being widely criticized, both cartoons are still largely adored and continue to gain popularity as new content keeps being added - most notably, a Netflix adaptation that is currently in production.
In an exclusive clip from the Ultimate Aang & Korra Blu-ray Collection (via Polygon.com), Varney and Dante Basco (Prince Zuko) discuss Korra’s character. They touch on how different she is from the Avatar who came before her and joke that she’s a “little rough around the edges.” Varney describes what she feels are the main differences between Korra and Aang, saying:
“We have this Avatar who is the polar opposite of Aang, She is a horrible airbender, and all of the things about her personality that go with not knowing how to airbend.”
The Legend of Korra was released four years after Avatar: The Last Airbender, meaning there was a lot of pressure from fans of the original series. Viewers were often critical of Korra's character throughout its run for things like personality and issues with bending. However, Korra is not the only Avatar to have struggled with one of the elements. Aang grapples with both earth and firebending throughout Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Avatar Roku found waterbending difficult to master during his time. It’s suggested that this is partly a result of the elements being too different from their personalities.
Airbenders are seen to be highly spiritual, something that Korra is not. This stunted her ability to connect with the Avatar state for the entire first season and is likely somewhat responsible for her inability to airbend. Korra's lack of connection to the Avatar state is something that also furthered her from Aang and his teachings. Aang was vastly different from the Avatars that came before him, which is evident when he uses the Avatar state for advice on Fire Lord Ozai and they all believe killing him is the best option - actively going against Aang’s morals. Despite there appearing to be many differences between Aang and Korra shown throughout The Legend of Korra, knowing that these two characters were both opposites from their previous Avatars help showcase some similarities between the two. The full discussion between Varney and Basco is featured in the Ultimate Aang & Korra Blu-ray Collection, which will be available from December 7.
Source: The Ultimate Aang & Korra Blu-ray Collection (via Polygon.com)