RUMOR: Race And Tone At Center Of Avatar: The Last Airbender Creators’ Departure From Netflix | LRM’s Barside Buzz
What’s the reason behind the Avatar: The Last Airbender creators’ departure from Netflix?
Earlier this week, a bombshell dropped on fans around the world. Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzok would no longer be involved in the live-action adaptation. And they didn’t leave with simple words such as “creative differences.” No, their departure came with a damningly negative tone, where they accused Netflix of not being supportive of their vision — in spite of the fact that Netflix promised to do so. Yes, “creative differences” was ultimately the culprit here, but it was clear that the split between the creators and studio was not amicable.
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But what was the problem? I’ve speculated on this a bit. I thought that perhaps Netflix wanted to age up the property and change it a bit so that it’s not a complete retread of the original. Additionally, I wondered if the studio wanted to nix the more childish tone to make the brand more appealing to new viewers. As it turns out, I was partially right — but not in a way that makes me happy.
Fandomwire recently put out a new exclusive piece. In it, they report details from their sources, and it paints a somewhat sad picture — at least from this writer’s perspective.
Budget
For starters, here’s an obvious reason behind the Avatar: The Last Airbender creators’ departure from Netflix. There always seems to be conflict between what the creators of any show needs and what the studio is willing to cough up. That is definitely the case here, according to the outlet. There are no details as to how much they wanted, or if their request were out of the norm for live-action fantasy adaptations. However, given the scope of the show and DiMartino and Konietzko’s relative inexperience with live-action, I can see why this would be a point of conflict.
But that isn’t an interesting factor here, as far as I’m concerned.
Race
I can only speak for myself, but although I could never get into Avatar: The Last Airbender, I thought it was very cool that it featured prominent non-white characters. As a brown kid growing up, it wasn’t something I saw very often, and to see it on the small screen was cool. Given the Asian influences of the series, it would make sense that a live-action take would feature a cast consisting almost entirely of actors of color.
According to the outlet, however, Netflix “wanted the ability to consider some white actors for the series.” This was one of those points that the creators would not budge on. Apparently, they were adamant that there wouldn’t be a single white actor on the series. Again, given its setting, this makes all sorts of sense, but during casting, the streamer wanted the ability to hold open auditions with all nationalities, white actors included. The creators reportedly refused.
Honestly, I can respect the hell out of this decision. We are approaching a point in entertainment where audiences are more open than ever about people of color leading shows and films. Plus, fans still can’t get over the specter of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, where lead roles were whitewashed. While I can understand the streamer’s desire to keep their options open, the idea that there are no actors of ethnically-appropriate descent capable of taking on the roles is unthinkable to me.
I have to give kudos to the creators for sticking to their principles on this one.
The Tone of the Show
Cutting to the chase here: it sounds like Netflix wanted to mature this story quite a bit. Rather than have it be a story centered around kids and young teens, it sounds like they wanted to age up the characters. This would allow them to create “a darker, mature tone with more romance, sex, and blood.”
Conversely, the creators believed this show should squarely remain aimed at kids.
I find myself torn on this one. Personally, the childish humor is what made it impossible for me to actually get through the series. It could be the best story in the world, but as those bad jokes kept going, I found it harder and harder to stay steeped in the world.
That being said, I can’t say the solution is to up the romance, sex, and blood. To me, simply making the jokes more appealing to a wider audience would have been a better solution, all while leaning more into the serious nature of the plot. Trying to turn Avatar: The Last Airbender into Game of Thrones lite just seems like the wrong move.
Conclusion
Of course, this is all hearsay, but if true, I find myself leaning more toward the creators on this one. Honestly, based on the race issue alone, I think they were in the right, but you add in the studio trying to shoehorn more sex and romance, and you have the makings for a brand at odds with itself.
What do you think of these reported reasons for the Avatar: The Last Airbender creators’ departure from Netflix? Do you believe them? Let us know your thoughts down below!
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SOURCE: Fandomwire
