Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender's Bumi Dismisses Everyone's Worst Fear About The Upcoming Adaptation
"Avatar: The Last Airbender" is among the most popular cartoons of its era (via Parrot Analytics), and it continues to be a success even over a decade after its series finale. The series follows Avatar Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen) as he comes to terms with his Avatar responsibilities and the fate of his people after being frozen for a century. With this unique setup and its deeply realized fantasy world, the "Avatar: The Last Airbender" franchise has garnered legions of die-hard fans. The popularity of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" even boasted a sequel series in the form of "The Legend of Korra" and a live-action adaptation film from M. Night Shyamalan.
Unfortunately, Shyamalan's take on the source material was universally panned by viewers and critics (via Rotten Tomatoes). In fact, despite setting up a sequel, the live-action adaptation of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" only got one film, and there were no attempts at another live-action adaptation until recently, thanks to Netflix. While some may be skeptical, one of the actors on board promises this adaptation will get it right this time.
Utkarsh Ambudkar assures fans that they're going to get it right
Utkarsh Ambudkar plays Aang's eccentric friend King Bumi in Netflix's upcoming "Avatar: The Last Airbender" series, and the actor stopped in to chat with CBR about the adaptation and how it would be doing things differently than M. Night Shyamalan's adaptation.
"I think people are really gonna be pleased when they see the series. It's done super well. Everybody who's part of the show loves it. They're going to do it justice," Ambudkar said. If what the performer says is true, it sounds like many of those working on the series are fans of the source material and see the new "Avatar: The Last Airbender" as a worthy adaptation of the beloved Nickelodeon cartoon, one that will hopefully please viewers more so than the film did.
Despite the reputation of Shyamalan's movie, Ambudkar was clear that he wasn't trying to throw the director under the bus. "M. Night, I got your back. [I'm] ride or die for you, but we're doing something different with this one," Ambudkar said. "That's the most diplomatic way I can say it, and I'm really excited for people to see the action."
Though there is no release date set for "Avatar: The Last Airbender," hopefully fans can trust Ambudkar's assurance that Netflix's adaptation will get it right this time, especially after other live-action adaptations from the streaming service, like Netflix's "Death Note" movie, failed.