It has been five years since Netflix announced its live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Since then, the streamer has been dropping several promotional stints for its next big project, making fans notice that the Fire Nation, like Azula and Fire Lord Ozair, has often been highlighted, along with the main characters, Aang, Sokka, and Katara. As this surprises the original Nickelodeon series’ loyal followers, showrunner Albert Kim and executive producer Jabbar Raisani reveal they’re about to bring this monarchy to the forefront.
In an interview with IGN, Kim revealed that they decided to bring the Fire Nation’s storyline to the fore to give Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender a balanced story. In the original series, Azula (Elizabeth Yu) only has small appearances at the very end of the first season, while Fire Lord Ozai only plays a big role later.
With this change, Kim and Raisani said these characters' heightened roles are part of their way to adding their own spin to the series, remixing some of the storylines. Sure, Azula is one of the most-loved characters in the show, but her story will also help deepen her brother Zuko’s (Dallas Liu) storyline.
“We needed to know more about the background for Zuko, and why he's doing what he's doing, and set that in the context of his family dynamic, and how he fits in with his father and sister,” Kim explained.
The Changes Fans Are About to See in Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender
Though Kim knew that the anime series didn’t touch those family dynamics a little later, they pulled those parts upfront in Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender to make it richer and deeper for those character storylines. In the live-action adaptation, he also revealed that fans were about to see some scenes that were only explained but never seen in the animated series, like an important sequence involving Zuko.
He continued:
There are certain scenes that you never saw in the original, whether it's the attack on the Southern Air Temple or the Agni Kai between Ozai and Zuko. And those are things that I knew we needed to see in order to make it feel much more grounded as a live-action show.
In addition, highlighting the Fire Nation gave them “regular sets and environments” that they could always go back to, considering the characters go back and forth to different locations every episode. That said, this helped them have more stability in their storytelling.
Anyhow, fans don’t have to worry. Kim and Raisani stressed that they still honor the original work of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and just added something new to the material. Hence, they called this show a remix instead of a cover, having the same familiar notes but making it something new at the same time.
Kim added:
It was about feeling [our] way throughout the process. Where can we take the story into the new directions that still feels true to the spirit of the original? And that's what it all comes down to making sure it feels like it was Avatar in spirit.
What is Avatar: The Last Airbender about?
Avatar: The Last Airbender tells the story of Aang, the last Avatar and the living Airbender. Amid the threat of Fire Nation, Aang has been discovered frozen in a block of ice. After being freed, he becomes responsible for saving the world and has to master the four elements, Air, Water, Earth, and Fire, to defeat Fire Lord Ozai. Fortunately, he gets the help of his friends, Sokka and Katara.
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.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is set to be released on Netflix on February 22. With the major changes that the streamer made to the series, it remains to be seen if it will be better than the original or if fans will like it.
