We’ve been hearing about Netflix’s plans to bring Avatar: The Last Airbender for live-action for years, and the news has bounced between “oh, that’s interesting” and “oh, it’s over.” And after all the purported changes and trailers, the end result appears to be… an adaptation that’s at best, perfectly Average and at worst, another poster boy for why live-action needs to quit stealing from animation, and the second bad live-action Avatar adaptation in a row.
It’s not wrong to say that folks are split on the new show: those who like it are down for the changes to the original show and some of the performances, while those who don’t are actively annoyed at the liberties taken. (To give you an idea of how divided this show is, it’s not fully clear whether or not it’s worse than the 2010 movie, better, or on the same relative level.) The only real commonly agreed on point is the writing often being the weakest part of the show across its first season, and that it’s working overtime to not make the same mistakes as the movie.
Remaking Avatar was always going to be an odd endeavor, even before original creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko departed the Netflix project to start their own thing at Avatar Studios. That show is in folks’ hearts in a way similiar to classic Disney animated movies, and it sounds like it’s being hyperscrutized to roughly the same degree as those often are.
And in the spirit of the season, we want to know your thought on on Netflix’s Avatar. Love it, hate it, feel like it elevates the original’s “Ember Island Players” even higher than before? Tell us in the comments below.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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