Netflix’s Live-Action Avatar: The Last Airbender May Feature Multiple LGBTQ+ Characters
If you think you grew out of animated television before the early 2000s, or your Netflix watching consists entirely and predictably of The Office, it’s time to climb out from under your comedy rock (also, reassess your views on animation) and watch Avatar: The Last Airbender, literally one of the best animated series of all time. For those of us on our umpteenth viewing, we’re looking ahead to Netflix’s live-action adaptation, which will likely hit the streaming service in late 2021 or (gasps) 2022.
The adaptation will be a “retelling” of the original series, helmed by series creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. The duo have spoken about casting for the series (which is reportedly still taking place), and how they wanted to maintain the ethnic diversity of the original series—one of many mistakes of that other adaptation of which we will not speak.
According to sources close to We Got This Covered, the Netflix adaptation will also feature “several” LGBTQ characters.
For those about to point fingers and accuse the creators of JK Rowling-ing the characters’ sexuality (that would be: deciding characters’ sexual orientation retroactively and performatively), know that the reports suggest these will be new characters, original characters. Which is exciting for several reasons; not only will the series become even more inclusive to its diverse younger audience (and some studies show that more members of Generation Z identify as gender non-binary than any previous generation), but these additions also imply totally new storylines—and that the “adaptation” won’t simply be a shot-by-shot remake of the original. Thank god.
Fans of Avatar know that these additions won't be the first LGBTQ characters in the show’s universe. The sequel series The Legend of Korra featured a queer protagonist. Though, some have pointed out the rapidity by which this development took place; it wasn’t until literally the final scene that Korra’s queerness was made evident to the audience—and in a way that seemed afterthought-ish.
DiMartino and Konietzko seem to have recognized that criticism. We can’t wait to see how they handle things this go-around—if 2022 ever arrives.
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