In an unfortunate turn of events, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko—the creators of hit Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender—are no longer involved in the much-publicized Netflix live-action adaptation of the show.
In an open letter to fans on his personal website, DiMartino wrote about the circumstances surrounding their departure saying, “When Bryan and I signed on to the project in 2018, we were hired as executive producers and showrunners. 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.”
It would seem that this did not pan out over the next two years, leading to their exit, and DiMartino’s need to explain the choice to fans:
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.
DiMartino went on to say that Netflix still has the chance to make a good show, and that fans of ATLA may enjoy it regardless of his or Konietzko’s involvement—but also that “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.”
This is heartbreaking news for fans of the series, who were already let down by the first attempt to bring Avatar to live-action in 2010’s oft-maligned M. Night Shyamalan film, The Last Airbender. DiMartino and Konietzko’s lack of input is frequently cited as reason for the film’s failure, making this blow a pointed and troublesome one.
DiMartino was graceful in his communication of the news, however, telling fans “I share your disappointment and frustration. I also recognize this creative setback is small compared to the problems we’re all facing as a society right now.” With a few helpful missives from the show’s beloved Uncle Iroh, he let the fanbase know what they could expect going forward.
Netflix has not yet replied with a statement, but you can still watch Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel series The Legend of Korra on its platform.
You can read the rest of DiMartino’s letter here.
Well, there goes most of my interest in this project. It’s so weird to see the actual creators of the series being the ones kicked out of the adaptation, rather than the other people who disagreed with them.
I hope this isn’t yet another case where “creative differences” is code for “The suits insist on putting in more white people.”
Boy that wasn’t the usual passive aggressive “creative differences” post we usually get when this kind of thing happens. That was active aggression.
Cancel it. Just cancel it now.
Glad they had the intestinal fortitude to tell it like it is. And yeah, I’m sure that ““creative differences” is code for “The suits insist on putting in more white people.”” is exactly the case here. I can hear the suits squealing that brown actors won’t bring in enough money from here. This wonder bread white boy just shakes his head in disgust at them.
No interest in whatever they put out. Thank goodness we will always have the originals to watch again instead.
@@.-@: That is actually not something you can accuse Netflix of. In their original shows, diversity is a major component. A lot of POC, different people who identify as LGBTQ+, often with decent storylines to boot. Sabrina for example, Stranger Things, Dragon Prince, She-Ra,…
Are they doing it perfect? No, but they are doing a lot more and doing it a lot better than most of the other production houses out there.
@5 And Netflix has an internal history with Marco Polo to give itself a rough estimate of numbers. That series’ cost vs viewership might have made some higher-ups twitchy.
Well i was disappointment and not happy the way the creators have announced they won’t be involved with Netflix live-action of Avatar the Last Airbender due to creative differences, this is so not happening at all.
@5/JellGordan: You make a good point. Yeah, Netflix has been relatively good about inclusive casting. So hopefully that isn’t the issue. On the other hand, maybe there was pushback against a show that had zero white people in it. The shows you mention may have diverse casts, but their lead characters are usually white (though not always, e.g. Altered Carbon season 2).
Or maybe it’s not about that at all, in which case I wonder what it could be.
@2, Ikr, DiMartino is straight up saying the studio is trying to compromise his and Konietzko’s creative integrity.
@6, I don’t know if that’s a fair comparison, Marco Polo is for all intents and purposes original content, there’s no built-in fanbase there. Theoretically the popularity of the original series should provide some reassurances to balance out the “risk” of a no whites cast. Depending on where they are in the production process, it’s possible this is about something else, for once I would like for it to not be about race, but it is difficult to think what else they might be trying to change if not the racial/ethic make up of the cast.
My guesses (any or all of which might apply):
1. The suits want to age up some characters and dress them in more revealing clothing and/or make them have onscreen sex
2. The suits want to make Uncle Iroh younger and hunkier and give him a hot girlfriend to have onscreen sex with
3. The suits want to turn the setting into modern times, with car chases and cell phones and stuff
4. The suits want explicit violence
5. The suits refused to actually commit to more than two years
@10/Jenny Islander: Netflix has plenty of shows aimed at younger viewers (as young as preschool), as well as some aimed at mature viewers, and everything in between. I’d expect this to be at the level of Netflix’s Lost in Space, which is perfectly suitable for family viewing.
Funnily enough, my suspicions run in the opposite direction than that of most commenters: I have the impression that it was Konietzko and DiMartino the ones who asked for something, were told no, and then decided to withdraw from the project in a hissy fit.
It could be just that Netlix would’ve liked to tell the stories in 8 episodes of 1 hour and the creators preferred the format of 22 episodes of 30 minutes.
Or Netlix wanted to increase the drama in the series.
Or even, Netlix wanted to age up the characters. This happens in live action productions, it’s hard to make shows with kids.
@12/Atlas: “Hissy fit” seems like a petty description when it’s their creation to begin with. And really, if Konietzko and DiMartino were able to put up with Nickelodeon’s notes on seven seasons of two series, it’s unlikely they’d be so prickly as to withdraw from Netflix at the first minor dust-up. It must’ve been some really major, fundamental difference that they ultimately couldn’t resolve despite sincerely trying.
@13/Ryamano: A change in season length is a minor thing that any capable writer could adjust to. Fitting a story to a requested length is one of the first skills any writer must learn if they want to sell their work. And I’m sure the season format would’ve been decided up front when the series was initially commissioned, so they would’ve known the length and number of episodes when they first signed on two years ago.
I considered the aging-up idea, but I can’t believe it’d be a dealbreaker. After all, the same creators did The Legend of Korra, focusing on lead characters in their late teens to early twenties, and I don’t see any reason the Aang story couldn’t work with older teens. (If anything, I’ve always found it hard to believe that Azula was only 14.) Plus, again, it’s something that would’ve probably been decided quite early in the process. We’re two years along now, so whatever the hangup was, it can’t be about the basic ground rules of the show, but something deeper that came out during the writing process.
Ironically, I had zero interest seeing another live action remake of an already excellent cartoon, so this news makes me more interested in watching just out of sheer morbid curiosity.
…Also, not to go off topic, but I’m pretty sure the screenshot used for this article is fanmade. We’ve got season 3 Zuko mixed with season 2 everyone else, plus that girl in between Toph and Aang looks completely unfamiliar. It’s kind of distracting now that I’m really looking at it.
@15 – The image has been updated. Thanks!
@14 / CLB:
“And really, if Konietzko and DiMartino were able to put up with Nickelodeon’s notes on seven seasons of two series, it’s unlikely they’d be so prickly as to withdraw from Netflix at the first minor dust-up. It must’ve been some really major, fundamental difference that they ultimately couldn’t resolve despite sincerely trying.”
Yeah, Konietzko and DiMartino have been open with in the past some of their frustration with Nick for stuff like the Korra clips show “Remembrances”. But they were always professional and polite about it.
So I agree with you: Whatever prompted the falling out with Netflix, it had to be something major and irreconcilable. I wonder if budgetary concerns was a factor — like Game of Thrones, if you’re gonna do this, you gotta commit all the way and not take any cut corners or shortcuts.
But I’m also wondering if the adaptation even survives now. It likely will, but Netflix has to realize how bad this looks for them and the project We all got burned by the 2010 film and the only reason my friends and I were willing to give this adaptation a chance was because of Konietzko and DiMartino’s involvement.
While I’d rather see a third animated entry in the canon, I’ll admit I was curious to see Konietzko and DiMartino approach the retelling with knowledge of what did and didn’t work the first time. There was also a chance to implement some of their original ideas that got abandoned (like Momo being a reincarnation of Gyatso) or work in some of the later revelations of Korra (like the origin of the Avatar Cycle).
So for Konietzko and DiMartino — the guys who, as you said, created the whole damm thing in the first place — to walk away like this…yeah, as far as I’m concerned DOA now and I expect it’s the same for many others.
Looking back over previous news on the project, everything thing I can find points to an expected production start of this past Spring, but not a single casting note. Bryke apparently left the project in June, so if filming should have started April-May, who’s supposed to be acting in this thing?
@18/chieroscuro: It’s safe to assume that casting and production were delayed by COVID, same as with pretty much every other show and movie.
@19 After having been delayed a year from May 2019, when the original plan was for a casting call late last year.
I can see for the Aang Gang age being an issue when casting, but nan Iroh or Ozai?
@14: Yup, it’s petty- but in my experience with creative types, specially in media, it’s a fitting description. Also, there’s an alternative reading to their previous experience in Nick: after being screwed over so badly during the production of Korra they have decided it’s not worth it, and are less tolerant of corporate meddling. So maybe at the first sign of trouble they said “fuck it, this is deja vu all over again” and fled.
@21/Atlas: “At the first sign of trouble?” Again, this project has been in development for two years. So obviously that can’t be true.
I saw something on Tumblr (no link handy, sorry) that said the main issues were money, being open to casting white people, and making the story more mature. My feeling is that the money is there as a sop to the studio since showrunners always want more money and it wasn’t likely a sticking point.