Avatar's Creators Says Korra Was Uniquely Difficult to Create
The creators of Avatar The Last Airbender did an admirable job in following up the adventures of [...]
The creators of Avatar The Last Airbender did an admirable job in following up the adventures of Aang by diving into the next Avatar in Korra, and Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko recently took the opportunity to break down what the hardest aspects of creating Korra's character were. With Korra being a decidedly different character from Aang in terms of age and personality, the sequel series did a good job of forming its own identity and telling stories that showed us new sides to the world of bending and how Aang ultimately changed the path of the earth!
Bryan Konietzko was asked by Polygon how the creators thought Korra would "go over" with audiences and just how she would challenge viewers during the series:
"I think maybe we knew Korra, as a character and a series, was going to be more challenging for audiences, but that was what felt right to us. You're never going to please everyone, especially with a sequel, so you may as well do what feels best — and that's just how we make our shows anyway. The last thing we wanted to do was make the same series all over again, even if a lot of fans of ATLA might have felt that is what they wanted from us."
The creators then dove into just why Korra was made to be so different from Aang and how the stories were able to form based on those differences that were created:
"It was a deliberate choice to make Korra a very different character from Aang in multiple ways. That provided so many new opportunities with the stories and character dynamics. And it would have only served to water down what was great about Aang's character if we just made a carbon copy of him with the next Avatar. He's such a goofy, affable, optimistic kid, so making his successor a stubborn, pugnacious, angsty teenager was bound to put off a lot of people, and I remember plenty of fan reactions to that effect. If I was surprised at anything, it may have been that it seemed like people were less willing to let her make mistakes than they were with Aang. But I didn't worry about that stuff too much. I am always more concerned with the cumulative impact of a character's arc."
What do you think of the differences between Korra and Aang? Who is ultimately your favorite character of the two? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of bending!