Netflix’s ‘Avatar’ Will Reduce Original Story for Seasons 2 and 3!
On February 22, 2024, the long-awaited live-action adaptation of the popular Avatar: The Last Airbender series finally premiered with the eight-episode first season. The series adapted the initial stories of the popular animated series. Regardless of the final result, most fans were actually eager to see what Netflix has done with the series. While there have been some lukewarm comments, the series was an overall success for Netflix, which resulted in a renewal for Seasons 2 and 3, which are currently being written to be produced at a later date; no release dates have been given as of the time of writing.
The original animated series’ seasons consisted of twenty 20-minute episodes, so you can imagine how there was a lot more space to explore and evolve the story. Netflix’s live-action adaptation had “only” eight 1-hour episodes, which is significantly less time to evolve the story, so some cuts had to be made in Season 1, and it has been confirmed that both Seasons 2 and 3 would be seeing similar cuts.
In all honesty, this is to be expected. First of all, making animated adaptations is very different from making live-action ones; the structure of these shows is so different that we cannot properly compare them – they are simply made differently. Secondly, making a direct adaptation wouldn’t make sense, as it would significantly reduce the creative freedom that Netflix has; sure, this is a live-action adaptation, but one wants to see a complete rip-off of the original animated series. We want to see something familiar, but not identical.
Jabbar Raisani, Avatar: The Last Airbender Seasons 2 and 3 executive producer, spoke to The Direct at Paleyfest 2024 and he confirmed how certain parts of the story will definitely be cut in the upcoming seasons:
“I think it’s a lot like season 1. There’s a lot of content in the animated series. And we will be looking at all that content. But we don’t have the number of episodes that we have in the animated series. So, certainly, there will be some condensing that has to take place.“
Source: The Direct
The first season provided us with a combination of well-known and original moments, which allowed the series to become a standalone project of its own, but a project leaning on the original animated series. Raisani also expressed his desire to potentially make a live-action adaptation of Legend of Korra, and commented on whether the recently-announced new animated films will have an influence on the series, saying: “No, not at this point. We are really looking at the animated series at what came before and less of sort of what they’re currently doing on the new movies.“
Actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee was also interviewed and asked whether his character, Uncle Iroh, would have more original moments in the upcoming seasons, and here is what he said:
“I wish I could; I have no idea what they have planned for us… I know we’re getting an opportunity to finish telling the story. Obviously, the animated series is going to be the template for us. But other than that, I don’t know how they’re going to remix the stories. Nobody tells me nothing. So I’m just gonna show up. And yeah, hopefully, we get a better, clearer sense of where we’re going with that in the future. But right now, I have no idea what’s going to happen.“
Source: The Direct
Despite some major revamps, it seems that Netflix’s Avatar is going forward with force and that we’re in for an exciting television event. Of course, be sure to keep following us for all the latest news and updates!
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