Nearly 20 years after airing on Nickelodeon, Netflix greenlit the beloved animated series “Avatar: The Last Airbender” to a live-action adaptation series in February.
The Netflix adaptation stars Aang (Gordon Cormier) Katara (Kiawentiio), Sokka (Ian Ousley), Zuko (Dallas Liu), Fire Lord Oza (Daniel Dae Kim), Iroh (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) and Azula (Elizabeth Yu).
Like the original series, the Netflix adaptation is set in a fictional universe where civilizations of mainly East Asian and Indigenous descent are divided into four nations based on Earth’s classical elements; earth, water, fire and air, according to a Feb. 22 article from Time Magazine.
The series focuses on 12-year-old Aang who is the last survivor of the Air Nomads and the Avatar and was trapped in an iceberg for a century, according to a Feb. 22 Vulture article.
The Avatar is the master of all four elements and is the world’s only hope to stop the Fire Nation from conquering other nations in the Hundred Year War and the Fire Lord from taking over the world, according to the same article.
Aang is not alone as his friends Katara and Sokka join his side for the beginning of his quest.
Meanwhile, the exiled Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation is determined to restore his honor by capturing the Avatar.
He is accompanied by his tea loving Uncle Iroh while Zuko’s sister Princess Azula is in a pursuit to stop the Avatar’s plans.
The live-action series’ first season recorded 41.1M views in its first 11 days, according to a Sept. 26 TV Guide article.
Netflix’s version saw quite a success for its first season, although the series brought in mixed reviews for viewers.
“Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024)” did not match up to the animated series, but it was still an enjoyable action-packed series.
However, it finished Season 1 with an intriguing cliffhanger.
Anticipation is building for the series’ upcoming season as the second and third seasons were announced for renewal on March 6, according to the same article.
Cormier, Kiawentiio and Ousley are all expected to return as the primary characters for the second season.
Liu, Yu and Sun-Hyung Lee will also reprise their roles in the next season to continue their characters' quests from the first season.
Fans such as myself are brewing with excitement to follow the ongoing journey of Aang and his friends in the upcoming season.
I predict that the second season will go more in depth about the war and the plans of putting an end to the conflict.
Meanwhile, Aang and his friends may explore more of the Earth Kingdom.
It will be interesting to see Earth Kingdom cities like Gaoling and Ba Sing Se coming to life as the main characters spend a significant amount of time there in the second season, “Book Two: Earth,” in the original animated series.
The upcoming season will also be getting an introduction to a fan favorite and my all-time favorite character in the series, Toph Beifong (Miya Cech).
Toph is a 12-year-old blind girl and an earthbending master who later becomes part of Aang’s Team Avatar as she teaches the Avatar earthbending.
Part of the Netflix’s adaptation will likely have “Avatar” fans seeing Aang develop more of his bending skills.
I am excited to see Cormier learning more waterbending and earthbending in the upcoming seasons
Cech has acting experience under her belt, featuring in both of Netflix’s original drama mini-series “Beef” and the comedy drama film “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah,” according to a Sept. 19 article from Tudum.
It is exciting to see Cech playing a significant role like Toph, but I am curious about what Cech's portrayal of the iconic character will look like.
To me, Toph is the best character in the cartoon and I hope Cech can match the character’s sassiness and her tough love towards Team Avatar in the original.
I thought Netflix's weakest points in the first season is how the writers gave the main characters bland personalities.
Aang, Sokka and Katara were all portrayed as serious and did not show much of their fun and loving side.
For example, Sokka was the comic relief in the original cartoon by Nickelodeon and cracked jokes while also showing his serious side when appropriate.
Ousley’s portrayal of Sokka did not showcase his comedic side enough in the live action series.
Netflix needs to improve on their writing in the second season because it will be significant in making the actor’s characters more memorable.
I will be highly satisfied if Netflix adds more personality in the character’s lines, especially with Toph.
A question that also is leaving me scratching my head is how Netflix will follow the actors' ages.
The Nickelodeon series had three seasons where its plot on Aang’s journey in the series took the course of a year.
I don’t think it will be possible for Netflix to cram in a year of events with the actors significantly looking older moving on.
It will be somewhat of a challenge for Netflix to exactly follow the cartoon’s storyline because audiences will physically see the actors aging.
Netflix may have to merge events at different times and still figure out a way to tell a smooth story on screen.
Time will tell how the upcoming season goes as fans wait for the main cast to return along with the new addition to Toph.
