Dante Basco Shares His Thoughts on Netflix’s Upcoming Take on Avatar: The Last Airbender

Nickelodeon hit it out of the park with Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the series is still just as fondly looked upon by fans as it was when it first debuted years ago. Now celebrating the franchise’s 15th Anniversary, Avatar: The Last Airbender is still going to live on with a brand new live-action series coming to Netflix sometime in the near future. The creators behind the original animated series have been confirmed to return as showrunners for the new live-action adaptation, and various other crew members are starting to come together. But how do the stars of the original feel about the new series?

ComicBook.com’s Megan Peters recently had the opportunity to sit with the star behind Zuko, Dante Basco, and Basco revealed his initial thoughts about the new live-action work. While he has faith in the original creators doing a great job, Basco is wondering how the new series will be approaching Zuko’s layered story in the original.

As Basco explains, “…I know [Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko] are involved, so I have a lot of trust in something beautiful that they’ll create. But as far as the new Zuko as they do the adaptation, it’s really…You’ve got to remember his story. You start back to the beginning and the story of redemption, so you got to give him places to grow. You have to start one place and then another place.”

Basco breaks down how surprisingly important Basco’s hair is to his story of growth too, “As funny as the hair is in the story, it’s real. It’s like he goes from being a bald headed kid with a ponytail to the end with the meanders, it’s part of his journey. You kind of got to start in a very extreme place, which means he’s got a crazy place in life…Remember the story of redemption that’s start him off in an unlikable place. His background to me were to be not like to really go through that.”

So it sounds like Basco has faith in the new series, but like fans, is wondering just how it will portray the longer character arcs that the original animated series is so well known for. But what do you think? Are you excited for Netflix’s new live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or talk to me directly about all things anime and other cool things @Valdezology on Twitter!