• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Netflix might turn the last Airbender into X-Men

Lupingosei

Banned
After the original creators left the Netflix adaptation, because of creative differences, a lot of people asked why. Well, this might be the answer.



Aang
Male, Asian. Lead Character is 12, male, of East Asian or South Asian heritage. Aang is a typical twelve-year-old boy. A bit goofy, a bit nerdy, restless in school, always eager to join his friends for fun and games. He’s nimble, energetic, and quick in the schoolyard. Adopted at birth, Aang has struggled with questions as to how he fits in. But his loving parents have worked hard to make him feel accepted. Aang has grown up to become generous, kind-hearted and cheerful. Aang had also been gifted with incredible mystical power. He doesn’t really understand it, but it could be the key to saving the world from a global conflict. It’s a responsibility he’s reluctant to accept because it’ll take him away from his family, friends, and everything he knows. All he wants is to just be a regular kid.

Katara
Female, Native American. The character is 14, female, of heritage indigenous to North America.
Katara is smart, athletic, determined, and hopeful. She’s had to keep her family together ever since her mother was killed in a mysterious supernatural event several years ago, a trauma that haunts Katara every day. Recently, she has started to develop strange new powers that both intrigue and scare her. She’s looking for someone to help her understand these changes. But she has also started to find hope in the thought her new skills could lead to a brighter future for her and her family.

Zuko
Male, Asian. The character is 17, of East Asian or South Asian heritage. In excellent shape, focused, and driven. Zuko has been driven to be an overachiever by his overbearing father; a career military man. Failure is never an option, and it doesn’t matter who you hurt to get to the top. Zuko has struggled to reconcile that philosophy with his kind-hearted nature. That conflict has made him intense and guarded; which is why he comes off as brusque and arrogant. When Zuko discovers he has developed mysterious powers and is competing with Aang for a key role in their project, Zuko’s father tells him to stop at nothing to win. And if he doesn’t, he shouldn’t bother coming home.

If this is true, this might become even a bigger shitshow than the movie. Holy crap.
 

Kev Kev

Member
this project is dead to me. having the original creators on board was the only reason any of us got excited about it. netflix is going to get shit slammed for this. what a bunch of fuckin idiots.
 

Cravis

Member
TnTiGam.png
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
I dunno, cast someone like Emily Tosta or Isabela Moner as Katara and lean into a bit of the rule 34 of it all with a more adult version (since any fan of the cartoon is an adult now) and I think it could work.

There should be no children in this, it should feel more like Into the Badlands with a heavy emphasis on the martial arts versus sappy drama with magic cgi.

images attached for research purposes:p
LkQ9pvM.jpg
LqwJDet.jpg
 

Fbh

Gold Member
- Netflix Original
- Original creators left the projects due to creative differences
- The whole fun and unique bending based society apparently won't bee a thing, as bending has been turned into a rare X-Men style superpower
- Character descriptions start by mentioning gender and race twice in a row for some reason


hype train GIF
 

EverydayBeast

ChatGPT 0.1
Avatar the air bender was real fun, the focus on martial arts was great. My understanding is the original is considered a classic and the live action movie took it too far.
 
That is not even following one bit of the original story. If they want to screw something, better make an original show, and call it whatever they want. It's like we have a great show, lets F everything.

coffee burn GIF
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
- Character descriptions start by mentioning gender and race twice in a row for some reason
Not to mention they want a NORTH American indigenous person when Kataras water tribe is SPECIFICALLY from the south. If we are going to play the game of every actor must now be 100% matched to their character then she ought to be Chilean or Argentinean!

Then we could get her...
 

Fbh

Gold Member
Avatar the air bender was real fun, the focus on martial arts was great. My understanding is the original is considered a classic and the live action movie took it too far.

The original is great. One of the best animated shows IMO in that it has great characters, nice animation, a fun mix of humor, action and drama, a really cool world and it's enjoyable for both kids and adults.
And I still think it's one of the best examples of how to have a diverse cast without coming across as preachy or pandering . It actually preceded the whole woke trend in western entertainment and pulled it off way better than most.

The live action movie was just bad. Bad changes to characters, bad changes to the story, half the story told through weird narration, bad changed to the tone (completely removed the humor), etc

And this new adaptation is sounding like it will only be some loose adaptation
Not to mention they want a NORTH American indigenous person when Kataras water tribe is SPECIFICALLY from the south. If we are going to play the game of every actor must now be 100% matched to their character then she ought to be Chilean or Argentinean!

Then we could get her...

Well they are from the south in the world of avatar but I was under the impression the water tribe was, in fact, inspired by native tribes from Alaska, Siberia Greenland, Canada, etc (Inuit, Yupik)
 
Last edited:

BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
I'm not a fan of Airbender, seen some of it. From the outside looking in they're just casting for what these characters actually looked like and behaved like in the cartoon, right? Aang looked like a little Asian kid to me, what's her face modeled on a native of the Americas, her brother (?) kind of the same if not with more eastern Asian influence. It just sounds like they're trying to make their characters in this live action show actually look like the characters from the anime, in which they certainly did not in that abomination of a movie.
 
Last edited:

jason10mm

Gold Member
And this new adaptation is sounding like it will only be some loose adaptation


Well they are from the south in the world of avatar but I was under the impression the water tribe was, in fact, inspired by native tribes from Alaska, Siberia Greenland, Canada, etc (Inuit, Yupik)
So we should honor that VERY loose "insipration" but dump the core concepts of the show? Ain't no indigenous folk at the horn of SA?

Or is Airbender set before/after the poles switch every 50k years or so? Hmmmm, i like that....I'll allow it. Does Moon Bloodgood have a daughter?
4kqyNK9.jpg
 
Last edited:

DeafTourette

Perpetually Offended
- Netflix Original
- Original creators left the projects due to creative differences
- The whole fun and unique bending based society apparently won't bee a thing, as bending has been turned into a rare X-Men style superpower
- Character descriptions start by mentioning gender and race twice in a row for some reason


hype train GIF

Gender and race mentions are to differentiate the show from the movie... The creators (and I know they left) intended Katara and Sokka to be Inuit or native indians. The fire nation and most of the rest of the world are Asian (hence the Asian names).
 

Fbh

Gold Member
Gender and race mentions are to differentiate the show from the movie... The creators (and I know they left) intended Katara and Sokka to be Inuit or native indians. The fire nation and most of the rest of the world are Asian (hence the Asian names).

I know.
But why mentioning it twice?
"Female, Native American. The character is 14, female, of heritage indigenous to North America."

So we should honor that VERY loose "insipration" but dump the core concepts of the show? Ain't no indigenous folk at the horn of SA?

What core concept of the show?
Avatar isn't set on earth:
a56bqed7d5j31.jpg


The geographical location of the tribes within the made up word is irrelevant to their real life inspiration.
Look at their clothing, tools, building, environment. It's a mix of cultures but clearly heavily inspired by the Inuit

Go look at the actual native tribes of southern Chile/Argentina: The Selknam or Yaganes. They don't resemble the Water tribe nearly as much
 

Xenon

Member
There are three certainties in life. Taxes, death, and any sci-fi/fantasy started post 2016 being terrible.
Ftfy


I picture the creators walking away from this project in slow motion with chaos, explosions and people screaming in the background.

Actually it's more like they crawled out amid the chaos like Merry and Pippin.
 
Last edited:

jason10mm

Gold Member
What core concept of the show?
Avatar isn't set on earth:
Huh, I always thought it was supposed to be a distant past/future thing.

So all the actors gotta be aliens now?

But who really cares about the casting, though they are being overly selective IMHO.
 
Lmao wtf is this discovering powers shit.

Pretty sure Katara good hold her ground with water bending pretty okay in the first 3 episodes.

Next to Berserk, this series has the worst luck when it comes to being adapted to different mediums.
 

Kev Kev

Member
Ftfy


I picture the creators walking away from this project in slow motion with chaos, explosions and people screaming in the background.

Actually it's more like they crawled out amid the chaos like Merry and Pippin.
i dont know about all that

im just here to kill CHAOS
 

Soodanim

Member
It’s a good thing the original is still more than good enough, because this sounds like an abortion.

It’s incredible that these companies are still fucking up adaptations after so many failures. Not sure not quite as good, but truly awful, insulting adaptations that shit on their namesake.

Resident Evil, multiple times with more coming.
Dragon Ball, thankfully only once.
Avatar, soon to be multiple times.
Mortal Kombat, with its recent shit movie and more planned.
 

DeafTourette

Perpetually Offended
Well, looks like the story is more in line with the original toon.


Cormier will portray Aang, a fearless and fun-loving twelve-year-old who just happens to be the Avatar, master of all four elements and the keeper of balance and peace in the world. An airbending prodigy, Aang is a reluctant hero, struggling to deal with the burden of his duties while still holding on to his adventurous and playful nature.








Gordon-Cormier-Aang-Airbender.jpg
Gordon Cormier as Aang Netflix; Everett
Kiawentiio is Katara, a determined and hopeful waterbender, the last in her small village. Though only fourteen, she’s already endured great personal tragedy, which has held her back from rising to her true potential, though it’s never dimmed her warm and caring spirit.

Kiawentiio-Katara-Water-Bender.jpg
Kiawentiio as Katara Netflix; Everett
Oulsey plays Sokka, Katara’s sardonic and resourceful 16-year-old brother. Outwardly confident, even brash, he takes his responsibility as the leader of his tribe seriously, despite his inner doubts over his warrior skills… doubts that he masks with his wit and deadpan sense of
humor.

Liu is Zuko, a skilled firebender and the intense and guarded Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. Currently roaming the world in exile, he’s on an obsessive quest to capture the Avatar because he believes that is the only way to reclaim his life and live up to the demands of his cruel and controlling father, the Fire Lord.
 

Keihart

Member
A spin off instead of trying a 1:1 adaptation? i'm super ok with that, adaptations most of the time don't work or look like cosplay youtube videos, like most live action Japanese "movies"

Now, i wonder if they would be able to make a proper spin-off tho, they have to understand what made the series good first and how the characters worked, if not, we might be getting Death Note shit again.
 

sol_bad

Member
The first description was fake. It was rumor. What I posted is the official stuff.

Folks raging about rumors and calling it woke before getting official confirmation.

Oh my god
And I got sucked into the rumors.
Looking back at the first post, I just saw the CBR link and just assumed it was reliable. Didn't realize the GWW link or that CBR sourced GWW for the news.
Stupid GWW, never heard of them.
 

Lupingosei

Banned
The first description was fake. It was rumor. What I posted is the official stuff.

Folks raging about rumors and calling it woke before getting official confirmation.
Or after the Masters debacle they decided not to start a fight with the fans again and changed it after the first backlash. The subscription numbers are also not that great to sink another franchise.

Or it is will be a bait and switch and the first was right, by they try to cover their asses so there will be at least some hype left until it comes out.

Netflix has too many examples of them fucking stuff up, so nothing of them has any credibility whatsoever.
 

DeafTourette

Perpetually Offended
Or after the Masters debacle they decided not to start a fight with the fans again and changed it after the first backlash. The subscription numbers are also not that great to sink another franchise.

Or it is will be a bait and switch and the first was right, by they try to cover their asses so there will be at least some hype left until it comes out.

Netflix has too many examples of them fucking stuff up, so nothing of them has any credibility whatsoever.

Production on a big project like this can't change up Midway through because that would halt things for a considerable amount of time... And doing a "bait and switch" from official synopsis to something else isn't doable either.

What other examples are you eluding to that did either of those things?

Filming is supposed to start in a couple of months.
 
Last edited:

sol_bad

Member
Production on a big project like this can't change up Midway through because that would halt things for a considerable amount of time... And doing a "bait and switch" from official synopsis to something else isn't doable either.

What other examples are you eluding to that did either of those things?

Filming is supposed to start in a couple of months.

They'll believe what they want to believe.
 

Lupingosei

Banned
Production on a big project like this can't change up Midway through because that would halt things for a considerable amount of time... And doing a "bait and switch" from official synopsis to something else isn't doable either.
CW had to do that with Powerpuff girls, because it was just a huge amount of woke garbage, nobody wanted to see it.

Also the original creators left, because it went too far away from their vision. The leaks could have been true and later they were changing things, because it did not turn out they way they thought.

The whole Netflix adaptation meme does exist for a reason.
 

DeafTourette

Perpetually Offended
CW had to do that with Powerpuff girls, because it was just a huge amount of woke garbage, nobody wanted to see it.

Also the original creators left, because it went too far away from their vision. The leaks could have been true and later they were changing things, because it did not turn out they way they thought.

The whole Netflix adaptation meme does exist for a reason.

And CW ended up having to delay it. Even with sets and costumes made, they have to change the whole script... And that isn't easy. Changing a whole script can delay MID-production can cause a delay of 6 months!

This Avatar series is going into production and filming in a month or 2.

The original creators got a boatload of money from Viacom to create all the Avatar product they want! Don't forget that. I doubt they changed anything (from the rumor to the official synopsis) because of how long it takes to change stuff in a big production. Sure, COVID happened and it delayed the project ... And the loss of the original creators also had a hand in that .. but changing the whole story from that X-Men-like rumor to what they just announced that's a faithful adaptation to the toon, I don't see that happening. Again, the time aspect. When the rumor came out, it was near the beginning of the summer. It's August now .. and they start filming soon ish... Plus they'd have cast everyone MONTHS ago and created the costumes and such LAST year... So no... They didn't just change anything due to this summer's backlash.

Just doesn't make sense
 

Kimahri

Banned
I wish these articles would at least try to explain what the changes are, so us who aren't intimately familiar with Avatar will be able to understand what the problems are.
 

Kev Kev

Member
At this point, I’m convinced this will be terrible. No amount of words, pictures, clips, news or quotes will be able to convince me otherwise. We’ve been let down too many times by companies that don’t care about the original work and are just trying to make something as popular as possible for more profit.

So I’ll just have to wait for it to come out so I can watch it and judge it myself.
 

NahaNago

Member
The first description was fake. It was rumor. What I posted is the official stuff.

Folks raging about rumors and calling it woke before getting official confirmation.
I just figured live action netflix would most likely steer towards woke without even hearing rumors. I had no hopes that this was going to be good.

Prove me wrong netflix.
 
Top Bottom