Avatar: The Last Airbender – 7 Mistakes The Netflix Remake MUST Avoid

Distancing itself from the episodic nature of original relates to the larger problem Netflix risks, which is simply to copy everything from Book One, scene for scene, and convert it to live-action. Disney has become notorious in recent years for committing this action with their past works, the 2019 remakes of Aladdin and The Lion King as notable examples. This just reeks of studios attempting to exploit nostalgia to make a profit, and it would be a shame for Avatar to taint itself this way as well.

Fans aren’t going to watch the new show if it merely goes down this route. Why would they, when they can just relive the wonderful experience of the old episodes? While the argument could be made that Netflix wants to cater to newcomers, they too could just watch the original series. After all, there’s almost certainly nothing this remake could do to surpass the quality of its predecessor.

In order to justify its existence, Konietzko and DiMartino must make some changes in the story, presentation, characters, and other pertinent areas. The aforementioned pitfalls of Book One show there are aspects to be improved upon. For instance, why not give into long-time fan desires to witness "Zutara" on screen, or at least hint at a potential relationship between Zuko and Katara?

There are many other possible changes that could benefit this remake, without resorting to self-forgery.