I Hope The Last Airbender Season 2 Fixes The One Mistake That Made Netflix’s Live-Action Avatar So Different From The Show We Love

adminMarch 23, 2025

0 11 5 minutes read

was a valiant effort to recreate the original animated show, but it missed one important element that made it all work. Live-action anime or cartoon remakes often struggle to live up to the shows that inspired them. Aside from the flexibility and freedom that comes with an animated series, the show can scale with imagination as opposed to what can be recreated or digitally designed. There are expressions and actions that simply can’t be captured in a live-action setting. Despite this, several remakes do manage to capture some of the magic from the original shows.

However, when a live-action remake fails to get certain elements of the story right, whether that is down to changing the storyline, or creating a drastically different tone, it makes a lot less sense for these shows to miss out on details that could easily be recreated. And as great as the live-action remake of The Last Airbender was at capturing the source material, there was a glaring difference in the way the Netflix show delivered its story.

Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Was Too Serious Compared To The Cartoon

Humor Was A Key Component In The Original Show

Avatar the Last Airbender did an incredible job at blending emotion, storytelling, and humor in a way that reflected the youthful nature of the protagonists. While Aang stands as the sole Avatar, and the chosen protector of the Four Nations, to bring balance to the elements, he is also basically a 12-year-old boy. So, when it comes to training and fulfilling his duties, Aang can step up and be serious, but often, he will revert to his childish state, and have fun. This was an integral piece of the puzzle in his story, and one that the live-action remake has unfortunately failed to deliver on so far.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Had The Perfect Ending, But I’m Happy That We’re Getting More

Avatar: The Last Airbender makes a promise about its ending in season 1 and follows through in season 3, making the story the perfect length.

Avatar: The Last Airbender did a lot of retreading ground to cover the same story that was delivered in the animated original, but it also left a lot out. In one season, containing a total of eight episodes, the live-action show covered everything that happened over 20 episodes, and weaved in details from other seasons of the original series. While some of these changes added to the story and made the narrative more streamlined, the fact that humor was so rare and infrequent entirely changes the tone of the show. Aang is a fun, care-free protagonist, but the live-action show does not convey that effectively, with the character appearing more Stoic and restrained.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Took Itself Seriously, But It Was A Fun Show Nonetheless

The Live-Action Remake Had It’s Moments

And when examining and comparing both shows, that’s the biggest issue with the remake. While Aang could be serious, and he would try to put on a brave, more mature persona to try and instill confidence from others, it was always underlined by the fact that this was just a boy. Aang is a child, and he doesn’t know how to engage with life without humor. Even in the face of losing the entire Air Kingdom, and the world he knew was entirely gone, Aang is able to smile, and laugh, and find humor in the world around him.

While Aang could be serious, and he would try to put on a brave, more mature persona to try and instill confidence from others, it was always underlined by the fact that this was just a boy.

None of this is to say that the remake didn’t work. The reality is that even without a lot of humor, the live-action show actually added to the series in some positive ways. It made the narrative more streamlined, and amped up the intensity of the danger facing Aang as the Fire Nation prepares to wage war on the other Nations. And despite the shift away from focusing on humor, there were some fun moments included in the course of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Aang Is Supposed To Be Just A Kid Having Fun (Until He Has To Become Something More)

Aang Is 112, But Mentally He Is Just 12

Aang is canonically 112 years old. But, for 100 years, he was frozen in a block of ice. As a result, he acts, thinks, and plays like a 12-year-old boy. This means that he is still growing in confidence, learning to become the Avatar that he is destined to be, but the weight of that burden is heavy on the shoulders of such a young boy. And in order to alleviate some of that intense pressure, Aang loves to play. In fact, a part of the reason he even wound up frozen in ice in the first place was because he was busy running away after being told he’d need to go to the Eastern Air Temple, and away from people he had grown close to.

Next Avatar Series, Seven Havens, Just Completely Changed The Avatar Lore

Several exciting details have been revealed about the next Avatar series, Seven Havens, with one potentially changing the franchise’s lore forever.

But fortunately, being so young, Aang’s memory is short, and he is easily distracted. When things get challenging, Aang is able to take his mind off the heavier things, and find joy and laughter. Aang is always meant to be the Avatar, but he wouldn’t be the same Aang if he didn’t have fun. And that is part of the issue with the live-action show. Aang has too much focus, and lacks the same fun and frivolousness of his animated counterpart.

How Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 Can Feel More Like The Cartoon

The Live-Action Remake Should Learn From The Animated Show

Going into season 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender, there is time and space to make adjustments and improve the show. Netflix is usually pretty ruthless when it comes to cutting shows that don’t perform well on the platform, so it appears that Avatar at least met their expectations. And Netflix has greenlit the show for a further two seasons, which means it has a similar duration to the original show. Especially factoring in the longer episodes in the live-action show. Season 1 may have been rushing to tell as much of the story as possible, but now that it has those seasons confirmed, it’s time to focus on getting things right.

Seasons 2 and 3 can take more time developing the characters, and showing off a more lighthearted and fun side of Aang. On top of that, season 2 can add to the playfulness of Sokka, and have the new characters that will join the adventure add to the dynamics between the core team. If Avatar: The Last Airbender can manage to inject more fun into the story, and show more of Aang’s fun side, then it seriously has the potential to be one of the best remakes of an animated show to date.