Netflix's The Last Airbender Is Already Teasing The Legend Of Korra And The Avatar Comics
This article contains spoilers for Netflix's "Avatar: The Last Airbender."
Adaptations and re-imaginings are a tricky thing. They have to capture and recreate the essence of the original while also making changes for (potentially) a new medium, different times, and a new audience. The best ones recognize this and rebuild and remix the original until they end up improving it and making something that feels fresh and brand-new, like HBO's "Watchmen" series or Netflix's animated series "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off." Another opportunity with adaptations is the benefit of hindsight. Even the most meticulous authors and creators cannot possibly think of absolutely everything ahead of time. This offers an opportunity for re-tellings to bring elements that were introduced later in the original story to the forefront.
Netflix's "One Piece" does this. The live-action adaptation of the legendary and long-running manga by Eiichiro Oda introduces the character of Garp much earlier than its source material and makes him a big part of the first season. This was a great addition to the show, changing some dynamics while still honoring the original. Now, Netflix's latest live-action remake is trying to do the same thing.
The streaming service's "Avatar: The Last Airbender" re-imagines the beloved animated series of the same name, which takes place in a fantasy world where people can control the elements — while one person in particular, the Avatar, can master all four elements and bring peace to a world at war. The live-action show brings in elements not only from later seasons of the original cartoon but also the "Avatar" comics and even the sequel series "The Legend of Korra."
The Fog of Lost Souls
In episode five of the live-action "Avatar: The Last Airbender," Aang and his friends are forced to enter the spirit world in order to find out why an angry spirit is attacking a small town. While there, they meet a giant owl spirit — Wa Shi Tong, who shows up in season 2 of the animated series and again in "The Legend of Korra."
In the animated series, the spirit world was a big deal, essential to the story, and also part of what made the "Avatar" universe unique, seeing as its fantastical elements were grounded in spirituality. In Netflix's "Avatar: The Last Airbender," the spirit world is shown earlier than fans may be expecting and we see more of it, including a subplot where Sokka and Katara get kidnapped by Koh the Face Stealer and taken to a spirit prison. That prison is not from the original cartoon but instead from the sequel show, "The Legend of Korra."
The Fog of Lost Souls is a prison for humans within the spirit world, presided over by a fog spirit that slowly pushes humans towards having a mental breakdown by holding them in their memories. This happens in the live-action remake, where Katara and Sokka are forced to relieve their most painful memories. It is in this very prison that Zhao spends eternity in the sequel series after his defeat. Connecting Koh to the spirit prison is a cool way of linking both "Avatar" series and expanding the world without completely making new things up.
The Mother of All Faces
In the episode that follows, Aang figures out a way to rescue his friends — he needs to return a totem to Koh, one belonging to the Mother of All Faces (a powerful spirit and Koh's mother).
This is clearly a reference to "The Search," the comic book sequel to "Avatar: The Last Airbender" originally pitched as an animated movie. The comic focused on what happened in the aftermath of the series finale and answered one of the biggest unsolved mysteries of the cartoon — what happened to Zuko's mother. The answer involves a Fire Nation conspiracy and an adventure to the spirit world where Team Avatar faces Koh and the Mother of All Faces, who can help give people an entirely new identity.
Including these references and expanding the spirit world means not only that potential future seasons of the live-action "Avatar" can focus on adapting some of the many, many other storylines in season 2 (while at the same time teasing a potential adaptation of "The Search"), but it also makes the show's world feel bigger and more connected in its first season
The live-action "Avatar: The Last Airbender" season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.