Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024) - General Discussion

[The Crazed Spruce]

Okay, Momo looked... off. Maybe they'll tweak it between now and February, but the design just didn't feel right for some reason. Maybe it's the bat wings....

But they absolutely nailed Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors. And everything else looked pretty much pitch-perfect, from character design to Omashu to Zuko's flaming spin kick.

So, yeah, colour me cautiously optimistic.

[Bookworm 1979]

Aang looked like he was smiling or laughing at one point, so it already looks better than the movie.  *Whispers* I thought Appa and Momo looked pretty good for being CG.

I also hope they keep Sokka's sense of humor in this.  And I hope they pronounce everyone's name's correctly.

[BetterButter]

Netflix’s ‘Avatar’ Unveils First Look at Gran Gran, Jet, Danny Pudi’s Mechanist and More

[Trini]

I'm wondering what the scope of the show will be, and how much they are going to condense the stories; because some of these characters are Season 2 or 3 (from the animated series) characters, so... how much of the original 3 seasons are they planning to tell in these first (only??) 10 episodes?

Edited December 27, 2023 by Trini

[The Crazed Spruce]

They'll probably drop a couple of the episodes that don't really contribute to the main story, like "The Great Divide" and "The Fortuneteller", and maybe compress a few others down to their key scenes.

And as for the characters being introduced early, they're probably just extended cameos meant to tease the long-time fans of the franchise and get them excited about season 2. Though it wouldn't surprise me if they find ways to integrate them into the season 1 storyline. (For instance, maybe Azula leads the invasion of Kyoshi Island, instead of Zuko.)

Frankly, I'm fine with them streamlining the story a bit, so long as they keep the heart of it intact.

[Trini]

1 hour ago, The Crazed Spruce said:

They'll probably drop a couple of the episodes that don't really contribute to the main story, like "The Great Divide" and "The Fortuneteller", and maybe compress a few others down to their key scenes.

I'm already expecting some streamlining; I just hope they're not trying to squeeze 3 seasons/3 years of story into 10 episodes.

[The Crazed Spruce]

5 hours ago, Trini said:

I'm already expecting some streamlining; I just hope they're not trying to squeeze 3 seasons/3 years of story into 10 episodes.

They released the title list six months ago. Looks like it's just the first season.

 

Spoiler

 

[BetterButter]

[The Crazed Spruce]

Gotta say, I'm kinda stoked for it.

[Maelstrom]

I'm getting pretty excited for this too, even though part of me is wondering if this is how Charlie Brown feels when he starts to play football with Lucy. Even so... I kind of can't wait!

• Yay, Sokka has a sense of humor! The actor even seemed to get the same kind of dry cadence to his speech as Jack deSena did.
• The Katara actress captures the perfect amount of wide-eyed optimism
• Zuko seems to have the same misguided yet strangely rootable intensity as the original, too - and is that the Blue Spirit I see?
• Also, do we actually see Zuko getting scarred in this? Yikes.
• Is it wrong I'm finding Daniel Dae Kim kind of hot considering Ozai's a total psychopath?
• Whatever else this may be, the look of the characters and the world are damn near spot-on to the original

[baldryanr]

In case anyone wants the breakdown. 

Edited January 24 by baldryanr

[Trini]

Visually, it looks great! The glimpses of the actors seem in-character so far; we'll see how it all comes together.

[Trini]

'Producers Reveal Secrets From New Trailer'

excerpt:

Quote

Kim: This is the attack on the Southern Air Temple by the Firebenders, and it's really the event that kicks off this whole epic journey. Now, what's interesting is this is a scene that was never seen in the original series. In other interviews, I've talked a lot about how one of the reasons for doing this adaptation is to fill in the gaps. And this, to me, was one of the big gaps in the original series. And there's a good reason why they didn't do it. But for us, I felt it was very important that we needed to see the event, the genocide of the Air Nomads, and this is the event that the Fire Nation attacked and everything changed. And so we get to portray that and show exactly the horrors that start here and then have lasting repercussions for the next century of the world.

 

[Bookworm 1979]

Did anyone notice the gag from the series opening with Aang crashing on the air ball?  I'm trying not to let my hopes get too high, but this show is looking really promising!

[The Crazed Spruce]

Really, the only knock I have on the trailer is that they didn't have someone destroy a cabbage stand.

[Maelstrom]

Crazed Spruce, they can't give away all the good stuff in the trailer 😉

Found a trailer breakdown with the four leads (the Gaang and Zuko) and they sound just as excited and dedicated as the producers (also, casting was spot-on for Aang and Sokka). The more I see about this remake, the more excited I'm getting

 

Edited January 26 by Maelstrom

[Trini]

A few quotes from the producers at EW; they mention having to change some things story-wise because the actors are going through puberty:

'Why Avatar: The Last Airbender had to leave room for a season 2 time jump'

[Maelstrom]

Lots of articles surfacing in the last week - here are a few:

https://ew.com/avatar-the-last-airbender-live-action-cover-story-what-to-expect-8551028

https://www.ign.com/articles/avatar-the-last-airbender-live-action-release-date-trailer-cast-and-story

https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/avatar-the-last-airbender-release-date-photos-news

https://comicbook.com/anime/news/avatar-the-last-airbender-netflix-aang-controvery-explained/  (the tone is unnecessarily flame-baity here, IMO, but it has a new tidbit I hadn't seen elsewhere)

[BetterButter]

 

[Trini]

(Maybe we should start a media topic?)

With the emphasis on Asian talent in this project, the nostalgia factor, and the fact that he's still alive and well, is there any chance Dante Basco is not going to at least have a cameo in this?

I have my idea of which role he could play, but I'd take whatever. I don't really follow him, but it doesn't seem like he's made any public comments about this adaptation. (But he might not be able to.)

[Maelstrom]

Trini, here's a little tidbit from Dallas Liu about Dante Basco (comes from the massive EW feature I linked above)

Quote

But actually, I think I'm quite lucky because I have [original animated series voice actor] Dante Basco’s performance, with his emotional range in the series, to pick what I might like and what to stay away from,” explains Liu, who got the chance to meet Basco in summer 2021 before the start of filming that October. “It was such a rewarding feeling to see how supportive he was of the decisions that I made for the role. He was absolutely cheering me on and wanting me to make it my own.”

I would love for Dante to make an appearance as well! His performance as Zuko in the original is, for me, the standout performance in a talented cast, and I don't think the character or the show would have worked as well as it did without him. So I am curious to see Dallas's take.

And, strangely, I actually would like to see Dev Patel offered a cameo in future seasons - the poor guy should at least get to appear in a *good* Avatar remake.

Edited February 8 by Maelstrom

[Trini]

46 minutes ago, Maelstrom said:

And, strangely, I actually would like to see Dev Patel offered a cameo in future seasons - the poor guy should at least get to appear in a *good* Avatar remake.

I didn't even think about the movie actors, but yeah, actually there are a few that would be cool cameos as well. Those names would be harder and more expensive to get, though.

[Maelstrom]

The only reason I thought of Dev Patel is because of an old interview I read years ago, where he mentioned an unnamed big budget movie (obviously Last Airbender) he'd done that made him uncomfortable about playing the evil dark-skinned villain. I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist I got from his words, and apparently since then he's spoken out more about how hard the experience was on him. So it seems only fair that he should get to be in a good Avatar remake. Maybe he could play the guru in season 2.

Speaking of more wishful casting, how cool would it be to get John Cho in future seasons? He's one of my favorite actors, and he's amazing. Maybe he could play Long Feng, head of the Dai Li.

And I'm wondering, once the series drops will there be separate threads for each episode or one general thread? I would vote for separate threads, if we get a vote. It would make for easier discussion to not have everything lumped all together, and would also cut down on the opportunity for spoilers for those of us who don't plan to binge all 8 eps immediately. Just my two cents.

Edited February 11 by Maelstrom