Fans are about to see a different Sokka in Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. As the Water Tribe warrior is known for being skeptical, abrasive, sexist, and immature in the original Nickelodeon animated series, the streamer has decided to remove his sexist side, as it has no place in the upcoming remake, especially in the new era.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kiawentiio and Ian Ousley, who play the roles of Katara and Sokka, respectively, share a breakdown of their Avatar: The Last Airbender characters and the changes made. One of them is Sokka’s sexism. When the show was still in development, this toxic masculinity was reportedly deliberately cut away.
Ousley revealed that there would be “more weight with realism” in the live-action compared to the animated kids’ show, while Kiawentiio added that they “took out the element of how sexist” Sokka was. “I feel like there were a lot of moments in the original show that were iffy,” she said.
The Thirteen Reasons Why actor agreed and added that things were redirected in the Netflix adaptation because it “might play a little differently.” In fact, there’s a Reddit thread that tackles Sokka’s sexism, like when he said in the original series, “Girls are better at fixing pants than guys, and guys are better at hunting and fighting. It’s just the natural order of things!”
As this will be problematic when shown today, Netflix has seemingly decided to lessen Sokka’s sexism to avoid further issues. But whatever the case is for this character, Ousley promised to make Sokka funny.
What is Avatar: The Last Airbender about?
Avatar: The Last Airbender will follow the story of Aang, the last Avatar and the last living Airbender. After being discovered frozen in a block of ice, he’s finally freed and has to master the four elements, Air, Water, Earth, and Fire, to defeat Fire Lord Ozai and stop the Fire Nation from threatening the world with the help of his friends, Katara and Sokka.
You can read the synopsis below:
Water. Earth. Fire. Air. The four nations once lived in harmony, with the Avatar, master of all four elements, keeping peace between them. But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked and wiped out the Air Nomads, the first step taken by the firebenders towards conquering the world. With the current incarnation of the Avatar yet to emerge, the world has lost hope. But like a light in the darkness, hope springs forth when Aang, a young Air Nomad — and the last of his kind — reawakens to take his rightful place as the next Avatar. Alongside his newfound friends Sokka and Katara, siblings and members of the Southern Water Tribe, Aang embarks on a fantastical, action-packed quest to save the world and fight back against the fearsome onslaught of Fire Lord Ozai. But with a driven Crown Prince Zuko determined to capture them, it won’t be an easy task. They’ll need the help of the many allies and colorful characters they meet along the way.
The live-action is based on the animated series by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. It was originally produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on February 22. With this major change the service has done to the live-action, it’s worth seeing how it will feature Sokka’s character development, knowing that from being sexist, he has become a feminist in the original series.
