Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of those series you cannot afford to mess up. When Hollywood took a jab at the TV show years ago, its ill-fated adaptation became the stuff of meme legend given its horrific reception. Fans were just as concerned about Netflix when the streaming giant announced plans to make a live-action series of the show, but their fears were eased when the show’s creators joined. But after announcing their exit today, Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko specifically credit Netflix and creative differences as reasons for their leave.
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For those catching up on the news, the co-creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender announced today they were stepping back from Netflix’s live-action adaptation. The pair took to Instagram to share their own statements on the immensely difficult situation, but they aligned at the same points; While grateful for the work they did, both DiMartino and Konietzko felt Netflix failed to abide by a promise it made upon the show’s announcement.
Konietzko lays out the ordeal simply, writing,” When Netflix brought me on board to run this series alongside Mike two years ago, they made a very public promise to support our vision. Unfortunately, there was no follow-through on that promise. Though I got to work with some great individuals, both on Netflix’s side and on our own small development team, the general handling of the project created what I felt was a negative and unsupportive environment.”
Of course, DiMartino had his own way of putting the ordeal. The co-creator said, “things did not go as well hoped” with the adaptation after learning of Netflix’s promise to honor the pair’s vision. He went on to say the product that Netflix makes might be good, but it will not be based on anything Konietzko or he pitched.
“What I can be certain about is that whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make.”
As you can imagine, Avatar: The Last Airbender fans have rushed to the defense of Konietzko and DiMartino in light of their leave. The echoes of Hollywood’s past failure lingers in the mind of netizens, and many admit their faith in the Netflix adaptation has plummeted knowing these two creators have washed their hands of it.
What do you make of this unraveling ordeal? Do you still have faith in the live-action adaptation? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
