netflix to adapt last airbender

FAN: Discuss various fictional worlds that don't qualify for SF.

Moderator: Steve

Post Reply
User avatar
mr friendly guy
The Doctor
Posts: 11235
Joined: 2004-12-12 10:55pm
Location: In a 1960s police telephone box somewhere in Australia

netflix to adapt last airbender

Post by mr friendly guy »

https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/18/1787 ... -tv-reboot
Netflix planning live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender with original creators
34
This sounds promising
By Patricia Hernandez@xpatriciah Sep 18, 2018, 1:14pm EDT

Nickelodeon’s animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender might go down in history as one of the best TV shows of all time, but when M. Night Shyamalan adapted it into a live-action film, it was a legendary flop. Today, Netflix has announced it will give “Avatar but with actual humans in it” another go. But this time, there’s hope that the project might actually be good — the original Avatar showrunners, Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, will be executive producers on the new adaptation.

The Last Airbender, which aired on Nickelodeon in 2005, tells the tale of a young boy, Aang, who must master the control of the four elements and rally four nations of elemental warriors to defeat a tyrannical villain. Shyamalan’s film adaptation was widely criticized for a wide variety of reasons — a clunky narrative, awful dialogue, wooden acting — but also because its main characters, mostly martial artists who live in Asian-inspired cultures, were largely played by white actors. (At least, the heroes were. The villains were primarily darker-skinned actors of various racial backgrounds.) DiMartino and Konietzko want to avoid that misstep this time around.

“We’re thrilled for the opportunity to helm this live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender,” the pair said in a press release. “We can’t wait to realize Aang’s world as cinematically as we always imagined it to be, and with a culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed cast. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build upon everyone’s great work on the original animated series and go even deeper into the characters, story, action, and world-building.”

While production won’t begin until 2019, for now, we’ve got some concept art that depicts the protagonist with Appa, the six-legged flying bison who Aang and his friends ride as they travel around the world on their quest.
We can’t wait to realize Aang’s world as cinematically as we always imagined it to be, and with a culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed cast.

I remember when racebending went on back in the day and people were defending it, and saying why should it matter. Its the actor people, as long as they are good enough. Now we literally see white people on youtube complaining of how the new Star wars doesn't have enough white men as the heroes. But I thought it shouldn't matter, as long as the actor is good enough, right? :lol:

Just to jog your memory about what the film adaptation was about, Death battle has a nice video on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNnF0ujd2ow
Never apologise for being a geek, because they won't apologise to you for being an arsehole. John Barrowman - 22 June 2014 Perth Supernova.

Countries I have been to - 14.
Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, USA.
Always on the lookout for more nice places to visit.
bilateralrope
Sith Acolyte
Posts: 6167
Joined: 2005-06-25 06:50pm
Location: New Zealand

Re: netflix to adapt last airbender

Post by bilateralrope »

Why should the live action version be watched by anyone who watched the animated series ?

We have already seen the story play out once. So I'm hoping for the story to go in a different direction.
User avatar
mr friendly guy
The Doctor
Posts: 11235
Joined: 2004-12-12 10:55pm
Location: In a 1960s police telephone box somewhere in Australia

Re: netflix to adapt last airbender

Post by mr friendly guy »

Isn't that like asking why would you would watch a television adaptation of a comic book because you already read the comic and know the story?
Never apologise for being a geek, because they won't apologise to you for being an arsehole. John Barrowman - 22 June 2014 Perth Supernova.

Countries I have been to - 14.
Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, USA.
Always on the lookout for more nice places to visit.
bilateralrope
Sith Acolyte
Posts: 6167
Joined: 2005-06-25 06:50pm
Location: New Zealand

Re: netflix to adapt last airbender

Post by bilateralrope »

mr friendly guy wrote: 2018-11-04 01:08am Isn't that like asking why would you would watch a television adaptation of a comic book because you already read the comic and known the story?
Yes, that is a bit. Though a comic book to a tv series or movie means detailing things that the comic book can leave to the imagination, along with changes due to the format different. Usually including eye candy that simply isn't possible in a comic book. Animated series to live action series means less changes and less detail to fill in due to the similarity of the formats.

It could still get me to watch it. Even if it doesn't, that doesn't mean I think it will do badly, it just means I'm not the target audience.
User avatar
ray245
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 7955
Joined: 2005-06-10 11:30pm

Re: netflix to adapt last airbender

Post by ray245 »

bilateralrope wrote: 2018-11-04 01:16am
mr friendly guy wrote: 2018-11-04 01:08am Isn't that like asking why would you would watch a television adaptation of a comic book because you already read the comic and known the story?
Yes, that is a bit. Though a comic book to a tv series or movie means detailing things that the comic book can leave to the imagination, along with changes due to the format different. Usually including eye candy that simply isn't possible in a comic book. Animated series to live action series means less changes and less detail to fill in due to the similarity of the formats.

It could still get me to watch it. Even if it doesn't, that doesn't mean I think it will do badly, it just means I'm not the target audience.
It's all about the surrealism. Animation is just a drawing at the end of the day. People can draw characters doing all sorts of fantastical stuff. With live-action, to make those effects look real enough is much more challenging, and it allows us to lose ourselves in the idea that it's how those fanatical creatures and powers might look like in real life.
Humans are such funny creatures. We are selfish about selflessness, yet we can love something so much that we can hate something.
bilateralrope
Sith Acolyte
Posts: 6167
Joined: 2005-06-25 06:50pm
Location: New Zealand

Re: netflix to adapt last airbender

Post by bilateralrope »

Fair enough.

Time will tell if that's enough for me. I'll decide after watching the first episode.
Marko Dash
Jedi Knight
Posts: 719
Joined: 2006-01-29 03:42am
Location: south carolina, USA
Contact:

Re: netflix to adapt last airbender

Post by Marko Dash »

at least it can't be any worse than the movie
If a black-hawk flies over a light show and is not harmed, does that make it immune to lasers?
Q99
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 2105
Joined: 2015-05-16 01:33pm

Re: netflix to adapt last airbender

Post by Q99 »

If it leads to more interest in Avatar, that means we could see new stuff in the world at some point too.
Post Reply