Actress Kiawentiio Tarbell recently shared that the upcoming Netflix live-action adaptation of the popular animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender removed elements of Sokka’s character from the animated version that they deemed “sexist” and “iffy.”
Avatar: The Last Airbender. (L to R) Kiawentiio as Katara, Gordon Cormier as Aang, Ian Ousley as Sokka in season 1 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Cr. Robert Falconer/Netflix © 2023
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kiawentiio, who plays the sister of Sokka, Katara, said, “I feel like we also took out the element of how sexist [Sokka] was. I feel like there were a lot of moments in the original show that were iffy.”
Ian Ousley, who plays Sokka, concurred, “Yeah, totally. There are things that were redirected just because it might play a little differently [in live action].”
Avatar: The Last Airbender. (L to R) Gordon Cormier as Aang, Kiawentiio as Katara, Ian Ousley as Sokka in season 1 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Cr. Robert Falconer/Netflix © 2023
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It’s unclear what the two are referring to, but Entertainment Weekly’s Nick Romano pointed to comments Sokka makes about the differences between men and women such as “Girls are better at fixing pants than guys, and guys are better at hunting and fighting.”
A video titled Sexism in Avatar: The Last Airbender does indeed include that line as well as Sokka’s interactions with the Kyoshi Warriors after they captured him and Ang.
In December, the series’ showrunner Albert Kim revealed the beginning of the series will be different as well.
He explained to Entertainment Weekly, “That was a conscious decision to show people this is not the animated series.”
“We had to sometimes unravel storylines and remix them in a new way to make sense for a serialized drama,” he adds. “So I’m very curious to see what’ll happen in terms of reaction to that,” he elaborated.
According to Variety’s Zack Sharf the beginning of Netflix’s live-action adaptation will show the eradication of the Airbender people and the rise of the Fire Nation.
Avatar: The Last Airbender. Daniel Dae Kim as Ozai in season 1 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Cr. Robert Falconer/Netflix © 2023
The animated show’s original creators left the project after realizing they did not have creative control.
Michael Dante DiMartino shared in a letter explaining his exit, “In a joint announcement for the series, Netflix said that it was committed to honoring our vision for this retelling and to supporting us on creating the series. And we expressed how excited we were for the opportunity to be at the helm. Unfortunately, things did not go as we had hoped.”
He continued, “I realized I couldn’t control the creative direction of the series, but I could control how I responded. So, I chose to leave the project. It was the hardest professional decision I’ve ever had to make, and certainly not one that I took lightly, but it was necessary for my happiness and creative integrity.”
“And who knows? Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar has the potential to be good. It might turn out to be a show many of you end up enjoying. But what I can be certain about is that whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make,” DiMartino said.
Avatar: The Last Airbender. Gordon Cormier as Aang in episode 101 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Cr. Robert Falconer/Netflix © 2023
Bryan Koneitzko also added in a post on Instagram, “When Netflix brought me on board to run this series alongside Mike two years ago, they made a very public promise to support our vision. Unfortunately, there was no follow-through on that promise.”
He added, “Though I got to work with some great individuals, both on Netflix’s side and on our own small development team, the general handling of the project created what I felt was a negative and unsupportive environment.”
Avatar: The Last Airbender. (L to R) Gordon Cormier as Aang, Ian Ousley as Sokka, Kiawentiio as Katara in season 1 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2023
He also declared, “To be clear, this was not a simple matter of us not getting our way. Mike and I are collaborative people; we did not need all of the ideas to come from us. As long as we felt those ideas were in line with the spirit and integrity of Avatar, we would have happily embraced them.”
“However, we ultimately came to the belief that we would not be able to meaningfully guide the direction of the series,” he posited.
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The live-action adaptation for Avatar: The Last Airbender arrives on Netflix on February 22nd.
What do you make of Tarbell and Ousley confirming the show will change elements of Sokka’s character?
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