Netflix’s Avatar series could well have had a drastically different antagonist. But sometimes, chance does things well and that’s just fine!
Netflix recently launched one of its most anticipated series this year: Avatar: The Last Airbender. A program that greatly divides fans. Paradoxically, the series is also a huge hit to the point of outright surpassing other adaptations considered more successful, yes, we are talking about One Piece. Unfortunately, it has the same name as the film franchise produced by James Cameron, which generates billions in theaters. In addition to the legal problems that this may have caused between the two licenses, having the same name still causes misunderstandings and because of that, the series almost ended up being drastically different.
Avatar or Avatar?
Even fifteen years after its initial release, Avatar (the blue) is still a monument of cinema. With the launch of his second film in 2022, James Cameron has confirmed it again and has completely taken over the name “Avatar”. Only here: one of the most popular animated series has the same name and has done so for many, many years. When it aired, this wasn’t a problem. On the other hand, when creating a film adaptation, it was necessary to add “The Last Airbender” to the title, to avoid any confusion. However, it must be believed that many people continue to get confused between the two works. And that’s why (thanks to) we have the right to a very, very good antagonist in the series. Because if his actor was cast, the very good Ken Leung, it was pure luck!
The man actually stated that during his audition, he had absolutely no idea what role he was auditioning for, because everything was very secret. Even worse ! He knew nothing about the license Avatar the Last Airbender. He was convinced to come to the casting of one of James Cameron’s blockbusters. “I didn’t know the [série animée] original, maybe it’s a question of age, but I didn’t know. So when I first heard it was Avatar, I thought I was going to be blue.”, he explained, not without humor, during an interview with Deadline. He continues by specifying that the project was apparently confusing, because no one “couldn’t guess it was for Avatar: The Last Airbender, it was somehow disguised as a different project”. Ultimately, the actor seems to have adapted very well to his new role… unexpected at the time. The Netflix series is rather a winner, especially since the actor is one of those whose acting has been praised. The series was therefore on the verge of having a drastically different antagonist, but sometimes, you have to believe that chance does things well.