#also i can't see any listing for an actor for haru so they might just solve the movie prison scene by not having it which i think is wrong

[sparksly-mage-of-light]

I don't think I ever actually wanted a live-action ATLA adaptation

I've been seeing all the stuff the showrunner has been saying about the upcoming Netflix adaptation. I want to say it's discouraging, but it feels wrong because I can't say for sure that I was ever truly encouraged about it. The more I hear about it, the more I find myself asking "Why?".

Why do we care so much about ATLA getting a live-action adaptation?

The original was a good show. Not just a good kid's animated show, but a good show in general. It was a deep, compelling show about war and loss and spirituality and how people, especially children, work through all of that. It was beautiful. It was fun. It was tragic. It was silly. It was badass.

What can live-action do or add that the cartoon couldn't? Especially after cramming 20 episodes of story into 8. Grittiness? Blood? (The perceived legitimacy live-action has over animation?)

Sure, it looks like ATLA, and the visual effects are better than The Movie (of course they do, The Movie is turning 14 this year). But the visuals won't matter if the story isn't just as good. We keep hearing about things being cut out or "toned down" and new scenes being added that I feel are unnecessary. I'm not saying you can't change things in an adaptation or that the original show is perfect; it just feels weird when so many of the changes seem to misunderstand the original.

There's also all the talk about taking the show more seriously and trying to bring in people who like things like Game of Thrones. Adaptations are used to make a story more accessible to a wider audience, but most don't change the genre even if they're far removed from the source material (Moriarty the Patriot looks very different from the original Sherlock Holmes stories, but it's still a crime drama at heart). The Movie also tried to be more serious and look how it's been remembered.

The new show might be fine. It might even be good. But, personally, I don't think it will ever be good enough for me to choose to rewatch it over the original.