This past week, Avatar: The Last Airbender debuted on Netflix, whetting fans’ appetites for the services’ forthcoming live-action remake of the beloved animated Nickelodeon show. Taking place in a fantasy world where select people can “bend” the four elements to their will, The Last Airbender tells a perfectly-paced story about warring nations, with the young avatar Aang — the one person in the world who can control all four elements — struggling to meet his destiny and put a stop to it.
The show is really really good, and I’m glad it’s getting exposed on a platform as big as Netflix. And apparently there’s a big audience for it. Netflix just released a list of the top 10 most popular shows and movies on the service, and Avatar: The Last Airbender was right at the top after only being available for a few days:
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- The Wrong Missy
- Riverdale
- Dead to Me
- Soul Surfer
- White Lines
- Outer Banks
- Public Enemies
- Magic For Humans
- Ozark
Man, there’s a lot of stuff on Netflix I don’t watch.
Anyway, hopefully this confirms to Netflix that they made a good call in tapping original series creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko to helm the live-action remake. The Last Airbender has been adapted as a live-action movie before, in 2010 by M. Night Shyamalan, but it’s so legendarily bad that fans prefer to pretend it doesn’t exist.
That said, even the movie is popular among Netflix viewers, so clearly there’s an appetite for The Last Airbender stuff out there. Get the remake right, Netflix!
All the new love for The Last Airbender also got some fans talking about its sequel series, The Legend of Korra. That show ran for four seasons after The Last Airbender ended. It was set 70 years in the future and followed a new, headstrong Avatar named Korra. The show doesn’t have quite the stellar reputation reputation The Last Airbender does — it’s a little more meandering, a little less focused — but it does stand on its own as a unique piece of work. It doesn’t retread the same ground as the original show and I always respected it for that.
But some fans are still miffed that DiMartino and Konietzko chose to make Korra rather than a direct sequel to The Last Airbender, and they let Twitter know it. What’s more, Netflix’s @NXOnNetflix account — the “home for all things geek” — hit back:
Korra’s👏story👏was👏important👏
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) May 19, 2020
Aang’s👏story👏had👏been👏told👏 https://t.co/2rpIuQR7q1
Normally I’m not a fan of the claps. Punctuating. Every. World. You. Say thing, but if you’re gonna do it, have a sense of humor about it:
to👏you👏
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) May 19, 2020
Mostly it’s just fun to see an official Netflix account mix is up with the fans:
both were important and essential to the avatar universe. no two avatars have the same perspective or growth
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) May 19, 2020
You can watch Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix now. The Legend of Korra may come along later but isn’t available right this second. As for the live-action remake, we’ll let you know when we know.
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h/t ComicBook.com