Best show I've seen. The film adaptation was one of the worst movies I've seen. I'm very concerned about the Netflix live-action remake.

https://youtu.be/ByAn8DF8Ykk

Less than one month away from the Netflix remake premiere.

The newest trailer just dropped!

Just binged the entire 1st season of the Netflix show.
I plan to watch it again w/ my brother to get see how it fairs the 2nd time round.
But my early impressions:
It’s AMAZING!

There are some nitpicks and complaints I have with it. Stemming from some changes to the plot and tweaks in some characters. With that said, there are some changes that I actually like and even prefer over the OG version. But the heart and soul of the OG show is still very much there. 

As far as Avatar the Last Airbender goes:

The animated is still my favorite version.
The movie is the most disappointing.
This live action remake falls somewhere in the middle.

There's a few things I would nitpick, but it's so much better than the movie and much more faithful to the animated series even if pacing and certain events were removed.

I haven't watched the remake yet, but I will at some point.

https://ew.com/avatar-the-last-airbender-gets-2-season-renewal-at-netflix-8604984

It's now official that Book 2 and 3 are greenlit. It's going to take a while, I'm sure.
I would expect Book 2 in 2026-2027 and Book 3 in 2028-2029.

We may got Book 3 sooner than that.

They might want to shoot Seasons 2 and 3 back-to-back to get the show done before the actors get to old for their roles. Gordon Cormier (Aang's actor) is already 14 years old while Dallas Liu (Zuko's actor), Ian Ousley (Sokka's actor), and Elizabeth Yu (Azula's actress) are already in their early 20s trying to portray teenagers.

The more time that passes, the more ridiculous it's going to look. So the sooner they can film them, the better.

Obviously, I don't want them to rush through it, because that'll bring a whole other set of problems. But they gotta strike while the iron's hot! (AND THAT GOES FOR AVATAR STUDIOUS TOO! WHERE'S THAT ADULT GAANG MOVIE, BRYKE?!?)

Whether or not you like this adaptation, all the praise and criticisms you have, because I know I've got my own. If you're an ATLA fan, you should be over the moon and jumping for joy that this adaptation has been as successful and well-received as it has and have to remember two things:

1. There are many who were expecting or hoping for a 1:1, 'copy and paste,' exact remake of the OG show.
That was NEVER going to happen. For a multitude of reasons. One being the nature of an 8-episode Netflix season where the episodes range from 45-60 minutes (360-480 minutes total) as opposed to a 20-episode cable show where the episodes are 25 minutes (500 minutes total). They don't have the same amount of total run time to work w/ so some things were going to get cut or changed to compensate. That's just how it is. Secondly, there are things that may work or be fair game in a cartoon that don't work as well or just flat-out does not work in live-action and vice-versa. In the OG Kyoshi Island episode, one tame example is Sokka putting on make-up and a dress. Another, bigger example in that very same episode is Aang stripping down to nothing but his underwear to ride the elephant koi. A 12-year-old little boy being almost naked riding on a giant eel - In a cartoon? Sure, why not! That's fair game! In fact, it might be cool! In live action? Uhhhh... For those two reasons, changes, additions, and omissions were inevitable. Some for the worse, some for the better! As long as the heart and soul of the OG show and what makes Avatar, 'Avatar," is still intact, which I absolutely believe it is, then whatever changes, additions, and omissions come can absolutely work. It all comes down to execution.

2. "From a beginner's standpoint!!!"
You'd be surprised how many of fans of the OG show, whether they like this adaptation or not, don't seem to realize this adaptation is meant to appeal to NEW fans and viewers who may be interested in this show as much as it does to OG fans who loved and/or grew up w/ the OG show. Sozin's Comet was 16 YEARS AGO!!! When the OG show first premiered back in 2005, Netflix wasn't even a THING yet!!! A whole new generation has passed since the OG show and a lot of things have changed, including viewing habits and audience tastes. And if you don't adapt or do something to try to bring in that new audience and generation, you run the risk of your IP becoming irrelevant and an obscure product of its time.

Remember what Uncle Iroh said in 'Bitter Work?' "It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others - the other elements and the other nations - will help you become whole!" That applies here w/ the Netflix show and the franchise as a whole. As much as many of us DEARLY LOVE the OG show - If we insist on stubbornly clinging to it and rejecting & not opening ourselves to any adaptations or new stories that aren't exactly like it or perhaps even change some things here and there, all we're REALLY doing is hindering the growth of the franchise and discouraging newcomers and people outside the fanbase who want to give it a shot. By understanding others, the other forms of media, the other formats, and helping to foster, not hinder, that understanding and growth, the franchise can become whole.

Regardless of how some may feel about the quality or lack thereof of the Netflix show, there is no denying the fact that it is a HUGE success! #1 show on Netflix worldwide and in over 80 countries now for 2 weeks in a row! Massive press and media coverage in many outlets (Gordon Cormier, the actor playing Aang, was even on Jimmy Fallon!) The franchise has never been more popular than it is right now, and it is entirely thanks to the Netflix show! So, Albert Kim and the team behind it clearly must have done SOMETHING right and have an understanding and respect for the source material, otherwise it wouldn't be as successful as it has become.

And because of its success and because there are so many newcomers and new fans out there who enjoy it so much, they'll be eager and willing to dive DEEPER into the franchise as a whole, not just the OG show! Korra, the comics, the novels, Avatar Studios' upcoming projects, ALL THINGS Avatar: The Last Airbender!

TL;DR - Regardless of how you feel about the show, whether it's good or bad, if you are an Avatar fan, you should be happy and thankful it exists and that it has been as successful as it has been, because that is ONLY good news for the franchise that now has appeal and a soft spot for millions of people across now MULTIPLE generations - like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel, DC, Nintendo, PlayStation, etc. The better this show does, the more Avatar we are going to get! And Bryke and Avatar Studios need to CAPITALIZE on the massive momentum.

^^^^^^^

Finished the live action adaptation this past weekend. It had some positives for sure, but was also burdened by quite a few negatives:

1. Not enough episodes. Trying to condense a 20 episode season down into 8 episodes, even with a longer episode length, was a mistake. We ended up with storylines from multiple episodes combined into one episode in out of place ways, several episodes cut entirely (including Aang's first attempt at learning firebending from Jeong Jeong, and the episode where the gang ran into Bato of the Southern Water Tribe). We even ended up with storylines from Book Two in season 1 for some reason, for instance the Lover's tunnel from Book 2 was incorporated, Wan Shi Tong the owl was encorporated early, even Aang contacting Kyoshi and Kuruk was done earlier than in the animated show.

2. Unnecessary character changes. The removal of Sokka's early sexism took away some of his best character growth, and his father being disappointed in him was also an odd change from the original. The removal of Aang's hyperactivity made him alot less fun of a character. The attempt to make Azula more relatable is part of a recent and annoying trend of a writers refusing to have characters that are evil just for evil's sake, and attempting to rationalize their evil instead. The near total removal of Aang-Katara romance setup was rather annoying. Aang not supporting Katara when Pakku refused to teach her waterbending was also an odd character change, in the animated show he was willing to not learn waterbending at all just to support Katara, but Netflix had him saying "maybe he's right, maybe you shouldn't fight". Even Iroh's and Sokka's goofiness were toned down for some reason.

3. The fights, while a notable step-up from M Night Shyamalan's movie, were still slower and less impressive than the animated show, particularly Katara's battle with Pakku stood out to me as noticeably worse.

4. While not so much an issue with the first season, the Netflix strike went on for way too long, and prevented season 1 from being released for way too long. Over 2 years have passed since season 1 filmed, so the characters are going to look oddly older in season 2 considering book 2 starts just 3 weeks after Book 1 ends. Aang's actor is already 14, Katara's and Ty Lee's actresses 17, and the rest of the young cast now over 20 I believe. I guess they can try and write in a larger time skip, but unless I'm mistaken they already revealed that Sozin's comet will return later the same year as season 1, so maybe they can't write-in a larger time skip now. Either way, season 2 and 3 need to be filmed back to back, or else we will end up with Aang's actor being like 16 or 17 by the time season 3 films. Season 4, if they decide to adapt the originally planned but cancelled 4th season of the show (with the early reconstruction efforts, and the search for Zuko's mother and such), they can always film later, won't matter as much if the actors are all adults then, but 2 and 3 need to be filmed back to back and asap.