WELP: The OG Creators Of Cult Series Avatar Have Exited Netflix’s Live-Action Remake

WELP: The OG Creators Of Cult Series Avatar Have Exited Netflix’s Live-Action Remake

There is one (1) original Netflix series I have been looking forward to for almost two years: the live-action adaptation of hugely beloved animated series Avatar: the Last Airbender.

Avatar takes place during a time of great war. Four nations, or societies, stand on edge as the Fire Nation seeks to take over the world. Enter Aang, a “bender” who is able to manipulate the elements – Earth, Fire, Water, Air. He’s the Avatar, but he’s also a 12-year-old boy struggling to understand his destiny.

The series is not just smart and funny, it’s also compelling and emotional. And it’s not just for children either. The older you become, the more you realise how packed Avatar is with critical world commentary.

Put simply, it’s excellent viewing at any age. It was also recently added to Netflix, which has seen its popularity renewed by fans new and old.

The streaming giant announced it would be giving the series a crack in September 2018. It was a bold move, considering whatever the heck the 2010 attempt at an adaptation was (read: a fucking whitewashed failure).

In a joint announcement, Avatar‘s original creators, Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, said they had signed on as executive producers and showrunners.

“We can’t wait to realise Aang’s world as cinematically as we always imagined it to be, and with a culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed cast,” the creators said at the time.

All was well… until today.

Taking to their respective social media accounts, DiMartino and Konietzko announced their departure from the series.

In an open letter to fans, the pair said they chose to leave the series in June.

Look, there’s only so much they could say without, well, getting shat on by Netflix, but it sounds like it came down to creative differences.

“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. 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,” Konietzko said.

Oh dear.

In DiMartino’s statement, things just got more grim.

“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,” he said.

Konietzko made it clear that this wasn’t a simple matter of “not getting our way.”

“Mike and I are collaborative people; we did not need all 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,” he said.

“However, we ultimately came to the belief that we would not be able to meaningfully guide the direction of the series.”

But, Konietzko said there are still very talented people working on the series, some of whom he personally hired.

“I hope they get the chance to do their best work on the series,” he said.

“Perhaps the team that remains might still be able to make something fans of the original and an entirely new audiences can enjoy.”

Well, fuck. 

On one hand, I’m not going to comment on the live-action series until I’ve seen it. But on the other, seeing what the creators have had to say about their exit and reading between the lines isn’t exactly encouraging.

You can read their full statements below.

Christ.

Meanwhile, on Twitter.

And, one for the fans.

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