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Netflix Announces Live-Action Avatar: The Last Airbender Series

posted on by Lynzee Loveridge

Avatar The Last Airbender animated TV series won the hearts of many anime fans with its stylistic cross-over appeal and serious reflection on themes that were at the time, not often looked at in kids programming on Nickelodeon. The series would inspire the sequel The Legend of Korra that aired from 2012 to 2014 and again made waves for pushing the boundaries of LGBT representation in a television show aimed at children.

While both the animated series were received well critically, M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender live-action film was panned and even cited as one of the worst films ever made. Roger Ebert described the movie as "an agonizing experience in every category I can think of and others still waiting to be invented." The movie was also criticized for its choice to cast white and Indian actors to play the roles of characters that are canonically East Asian or Inuit.

Series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino are giving live-action Avatar another chance at Netflix, and this time with a "culturally appropriate" cast. Konietzko and DiMartino are at the helm of the project and it's expected to begin production next year in partnership with Nickelodeon. John Staub created the concept art pictured right for the project.

Konietzko and DiMartino said, "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. Netflix is wholly dedicated to manifesting our vision for this retelling, and we're incredibly grateful to be partnering with them."

Source: The Hollywood Reporter (Rick Porter)


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