The latest look at Season 2 of Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender demonstrates precisely why a live-action Legend of Korra would work better. Netflix has changed the conversation surrounding live-action adaptations with its takes on Avatar: The Last Airbender and One Piece exceeding expectations. That’s not to say that either of them is perfect. Not every Nickelodeon fan appreciates the former’s approach to the original story, and the new medium presents further challenges going forward. One of the biggest is made clear in the new trailer for Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The footage, understandably, places much of its focus on Season 2’s most exciting addition: Miya Cech’s Toph. However, it also shows Team Avatar and teases some of the challenges they’ll face in the coming episodes. The action looks thrilling as ever, but fans are homing in on one jarring problem with Season 2. It’s a challenge that feels inevitable when bringing The Last Airbender to live-action — though it’s one that The Legend of Korra could easily avoid.
Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Trailer Just Made the Cast’s Age Problem More Noticeable
Following the new Last Airbender trailer, fans are commenting on the fact that the series’ stars have aged noticeably since Season 1. The show ages up some of the members of Team Avatar in the jump to live-action. Even that isn’t enough to hide the reality that they’re older than their characters are meant to be — and they’re starting to look it. Perhaps the most obvious example is Gordon Cormier, who plays Aang in Netflix’s adaptation. While Aang is frozen for over a century, he’s still meant to be 12 years old when he’s freed from the iceberg. Cormier was around that age when the series began filming in 2021. However, as we approach Season 2’s release, he’s well into his teens.
It’s not just Cormier who has grown up since filming Season 1, either. Kiawentiio, who portrays Katara, was also around the same age as her 14-year-old character when she was cast. She’s now into young adulthood as we approach the next chapter. And both Dallas Liu and Ian Ousley, who play Zuko and Sokka, respectively, were already in or nearing their 20s when working on Season 1. Even after making their teen characters a year older than their animated counterparts, they still looked more mature than they should. That’s now true of the entire group. Of course, this doesn’t make the series any less enjoyable. However, it can take viewers out of the story. Fortunately, the series is embracing a time jump to help explain things (via Entertainment Weekly).
But this is an inevitable obstacle for streaming-era shows featuring child stars, especially with the gaps between seasons growing longer. And it’s something viewers are picking up on; The Last Airbender isn’t the only series to spark such conversations recently. Stranger Things Season 5 is probably the biggest example, but series like Percy Jackson & the Olympians and Ginny & Georgia are also grappling with such challenges. The only real solution is to shorten the breaks between seasons — but even that would only do so much. Fortunately, The Last Airbender Seasons 2 and 3 were filmed back-to-back, which means they’ll avoid repeating this problem in the latter. A live-action Legend of Korra would get around it entirely, though.
A Live-Action Legend of Korra Would Avoid the Current Adaptation’s Biggest Obstacle
The aging of its cast is obviously a challenge for Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, not just because it’s getting attention online — but because the series has to make changes to the timeline to address it. The whole situation highlights why The Legend of Korra is the better choice for a live-action rendering. The sequel’s main characters start the show as young adults, and they’re all in their 20s by its end. This would remove the pressure of casting young stars and filming before they could outgrow their roles.
Plus, The Legend of Korra‘s older characters enable it to explore more mature themes and storylines, even in the original. This would work well in a live-action format, and it could make it appeal to a broader audience. Those are just a few reasons The Legend of Korra makes more sense to adapt than Avatar: The Last Airbender. As the latter is already happening, the next best thing would be for Netflix to tackle both.
This Isn’t the Only Reason The Legend of Korra Is Worth Adapting
In addition to getting around The Last Airbender‘s age problem, a live-action Legend of Korra would have an easier time justifying its existence. The original Last Airbender leaves very little to improve upon, with the show remaining a beloved favorite even 20 years after its debut. When Netflix announced a live-action series, there was resistance to the idea, as there wasn’t much of a reason for it. And it didn’t just fail to add anything unique to the original; it also struggled to capture the humor and hope injected throughout.
The Legend of Korra, on the other hand, has quite a few shortcomings — most of which could be revisited and fixed by a live-action adaptation. To start, the series lacks the overarching structure that its predecessor benefited from. While an adaptation wouldn’t want to veer too far from the original’s narrative beats, it could attempt to connect them better. It could also deliver an ending that doesn’t shy away from its LGBTQ+ representation and sets it up long before the finale. Additionally, The Legend of Korra has a darker, more serious tone that lends itself to live-action in a way that Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s simply doesn’t. Playing it up would give a Legend of Korra series potential, and hopefully, Netflix recognizes that.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Netflix -
Image Courtesy of Netflix -
Image Courtesy of Devolver Digital
