Netflix announces Avatar: TLA Live Action Series

[Kelthaz]

https://io9.gizmodo.com/avatar-the-last-airbender-is-being-reborn-as-a-netflix-1829139229

Holy shit guys. This series is getting a second chance at live action.

 

[DigificWriter]

If this version tones down Sokka and cuts out the stupid filler that ruined Season 2, I might actually watch it.

 

[Thestral]

... tone down Sokka? And what forfil? Lol if anything it's Season 1 that could use some trimming.

That said OMG I'm so excited! Though all i want honestly is a straight copying into live action...

 

[kitik]

I don't know what to think.

Can you improve upon perfection?

 

[JD]

Wow, this is unexpected but very exciting news. I was cautiously interested at first, but now that I know Brian DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko are involved, I'm very excited. I didn't think anything Netflix was making could get me as excited as I am for The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, but this comes very close.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Looking forward to everyone bitching that the actors aren't Inuit enough.

EDIT: sorry, I'm in a sour mood, I hate that when someone bitches about something that hasn't happened cuz they're pretty much guilty of the same thing and here I am doing it...

 

[theenglish]

Is the original series available on Netflix--or somewhere to stream?

 

[kirk55555]

Wow, an unneeded remake of a show that will have a TV budget so it isn't just pointless, it will definitely look significantly worse (through no fault of the people making it, to be fair). I definitely want to see child actors wandering around green screens and doing pale imitations of bending using TV level CG

This is as stupid as, say, CW trying to do a Green Lantern show, with the added issue of Avatar having a complete, well told story that there is literally nothing a live action show can improve on (not that the show was flawless, Book 2 had a chunk of mediocre bits), but a live action show won't fix that.

 

[DigificWriter]

there is literally nothing a live action show can improve on

The animated series' original creators clearly disageee, since they pitched this project to networks/streaming services and were given a platform and opportunity by Netflix.

 

[Markonian]

If this goes well, maybe we get a third animated series someday, too! And some merch.

 

[JD]

Wow, an unneeded remake of a show that will have a TV budget so it isn't just pointless, it will definitely look significantly worse (through no fault of the people making it, to be fair). I definitely want to see child actors wandering around green screens and doing pale imitations of bending using TV level CG

After seeing what they've been able to do on the Arrowverse shows, The Expanse, Once Upon a Time, ect. I'm pretty sure they'll be able to pull this one off fine.

 

[kirk55555]

As someone who used to like the Arrowverse, it never did anything like this. There is no way you can do the effects for Avatar as well as the show unless every episode has multiple times the budget of even shows like Game of Thrones.

Plus, like I said, there is literally no reason to do this. They are not going to make the story better (especially since the people who made Avatar originally are no longer capable of making a good show, as seen by Korra being an atrocious pile of shit), and its whole concept works much better as something where the only limit is basically the writers imagination, as opposed to the realities of the physical world or special effects budgets.

 

[Christopher]

By the way, I can't seem to find a thread for this, but is anyone watching Netflix's The Dragon Prince, from Avatar head writer Aaron Ehasz and producer Giancarlo Volpe? It's only 9 episodes, bingeable in a single day, though I'm not quite done with it yet. It's got a very derivative, Tolkienesque backstory, so the opening couple of minutes of worldbuilding exposition are fairly dull (and arguably unnecessary, since the important stuff is explained later through the plot and dialogue), but it picks up after that; it's got interesting characters and a very A:TLA-like nuance and humor (and the lead character is played by Jack DeSena, though he sounds fairly different from Sokka). It's cel-shaded 3D animation, but it looks almost indistinguishable from 2D (much more so than the cel-shading in Star Wars Resistance), and the character design style is similar to Avatar/Korra. It uses a reduced frame rate to mimic cel animation, a practice from anime that's starting to catch on in the US, and I think the frame rate is reduced a bit too much, but you get used to it. It's interesting in that even its more antagonistic characters are kind of funny and likeable, and there aren't really any melodramatically evil sorts, just very human people (and elves) with opposing agendas and ambitions.

 

[thribs]

Does seem rather unnecessary. I’m sure it will be good though.

 

[JD]

As someone who used to like the Arrowverse, it never did anything like this. There is no way you can do the effects for Avatar as well as the show unless every episode has multiple times the budget of even shows like Game of Thrones.

They've given us King Shark, Gorilla Grodd, and a lot of fights on Legends with characters like The Atom, Firestorm, and Heat Wave all using their powers.
The Expanse has given us some pretty impressive effect sequences with the Protomolecule.
Once Upon a Time has given us dragons, Ogres, fairies, magic spells, and completely CGI environments.
Those shows have all pulled off some pretty awesome effect sequences on basic cable and network budgets, and I'm pretty sure Netflix is probably going to give A:TLA an even bigger than most of them have.
At this point I've pretty much stopped doubting what they'll be able to do on TV/streaming.

 

[Christopher]

I've felt for a long time that the Jackie Chan/Jet Li film The Forbidden Kingdom is the closest thing to a live-action version of A:TLA: Great wuxia martial arts choreography supplemented with magic, gorgeous Chinese locations, a mostly Asian cast, and a lighthearted story made with young audiences in mind.

 

[Gaith]

So... will this make two live-action Avatars between Avatar and Avatar 2?

 

[kirk55555]

They've given us King Shark, Gorilla Grodd, and a lot of fights on Legends with characters like The Atom, Firestorm, and Heat Wave all using their powers.
The Expanse has given us some pretty impressive effect sequences with the Protomolecule.
Once Upon a Time has given us dragons, Ogres, fairies, magic spells, and completely CGI environments.
Those shows have all pulled off some pretty awesome effect sequences on basic cable and network budgets, and I'm pretty sure Netflix is probably going to give A:TLA an even bigger than most of them have.
At this point I've pretty much stopped doubting what they'll be able to do on TV/streaming.

Gorilla Grodd and King Shark looked terrible, They worked for what the show needed, but they were laughable. The atom also looked bad any time they did anything but just shrink him. Firestorm just flew around on fire.

The Expanse looks terrible, too, with its Zach snyder style mixed with mediocre effects and sets. Just because someone can do CG doesn't make it good. You can do Avatar's effects, in the same way that literally anyone with a green screen could do them. Its technically true, but it doesn't mean they can do the effects to the same levelk of spectacle as the Tv series, and again this is ignoring the point that the story of the show cannont be improved, certainly not by a live action show made by the people making this one. Its just going to be the live action movie again, but with (presumably) less racist casting.

 

[JD]

I don't know what the hell you've been watching, because Grodd and King Shark looked great, and the effects on The Expanse are amazing.
Are they $100,000,000 movie level? No, but that is really not necessary to pull off a great looking A:TLA tv series.

 

[Christopher]

I don't know what the hell you've been watching, because Grodd and King Shark looked great, and the effects on The Expanse are amazing.
Are they $100,000,000 movie level? No, but that is really not necessary to pull off a great looking A:TLA tv series.

And Avatar doesn't need that much in the way of creature effects on a regular basis, besides Appa and Momo, and those can be done with a mix of digital and animatronics, like Old Lace in Marvel's Runaways. Mostly you just need wuxia-style martial-arts stunts enhanced with digital animation for the elemental effects, and that's relatively easier. I imagine the most common digital effect would be erasure of the wires holding up the stunt performers, followed by virtual scenery. Although the need for the latter would be reduced if they shoot in China and make use of the amazing scenery and elaborate historical backlots available there.