Netflix's reboot of Avatar: The Last Airbender has the resources to make up for the failings of The Last Airbender in a major way. Netflix's adaptation of Avatar was first announced in 2018, and while it has taken some time to get started, the series commenced production in late 2021. Netflix's take on Avatar is significant for being the second live-action version of Nickelodeon's anime-inspired series Avatar: The Last Airbender, following the botched 2010 big-screen adaptation, M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender.
Practically everything went wrong with The Last Airbender, with the movie being universally derided upon its release. Avatar creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino would also express great displeasure with the film, while the horrendous reception to The Last Airbender would also lead to plans for two sequels adapting the show's second and third seasons being scrapped (the movie being based on the first season). While hopes are running high that Netflix's reboot of Avatar can stick the landing that The Last Airbender could not, one big aspect of the show's production indicates that Netflix is taking the necessary steps to bring the Avatar universe to life.
Netflix's Avatar Remake Budget Shows It Is Going For The Proper Scale
Netflix's Avatar reportedly costs $15 million per episode, and with the series consisting of eight episodes, that adds up to $120 million for the entire show. Comparatively, The Last Airbender was somewhat more expensive at $150 million. Nonetheless, Netflix budgeting Avatar within the range of its big-screen predecessor shows that the streaming platform is striving to give Avatar a fittingly large scale. Considering the scope of Nickeloedeon's Avatar, that can only be a good sign.
Avatar is full of adventure and fantastical elements, deeply rooted in Asian mythology, religions, and martial arts. The template set in motion by the series necessitates that any adaptation cannot be done cheaply. Both The Last Airbender and Netflix's Avatar bring the kind of budget needed to do the show justice, but the approach of the latter also indicates it will be far more economical than the movie was.
Netflix's Avatar Can Use Its Budget Better Than The Last Airbender
While not necessarily Shyamalan's fault, The Last Airbender's many issues include the misguided attempt to cram an entire season's story into a 103-minute narrative. The Last Airbender speeds through major events of the show with minimal character development and extremely clunky dialogue to fill in the blanks of events and plot points it skips over. The Netflix adaptation of Avatar will not have that problem with eight episodes to work with. Even better, the show can allocate its budget to make it far more polished than The Last Airbender ended up being.
With the poorly developed CGI and 3D of The Last Airbender being another of the movie's shortcomings, these factors further impacted the already badly orchestrated bending action scenes of the movie. Having more time to create its world, element bending, and more, Netflix's Avatar can get more bang for its buck at $15 million an episode. Avatar just isn't Avatar without great element bending, and the budget for Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender teases much more refined bending in the show's fully realized take on the Four Nations.