There has been a long-running sense of confusion among fans around the difference between James Cameron’s Avatar films, meaning the franchise with the blue Navi body that ex-soldier Jake Sully is transported into, and Avatar:The Last Airbender, meaning the series in which humans can harness a single element of Earth, Air, Water or Fire, and one can harness all four in order to maintain peace and balance in the world. It is unfortunate that both series have the same name, and audiences who are new to either one will often confuse it with the other. But it is becoming more and more apparent that this may not just be because of the titles, but actually because there are more similarities than there at first might appear. In fact, many fans are beginning to consider the possibility that Cameron may be emulating ideas for the incredibly popular animated series The Last Airbender.
This has become increasingly prevalent since the second James Cameron Avatar movie was released late last year, and started exploring the idea of the elements. The original movie focused very much on the Na’vi people and their connection to the spirits in the Earth on their home planet Pandora. Jake Sully was lucky enough to be taken in and taught by the Omaticaya clan, learning all about the existence of a complete biological system that runs through the entire world, tying all life together. There was also the idea addressed in the first film about conquering air, as Jake became Taruk Makto and learned to fly the most deadly creature on the planet. The second film, The Way of Water, adds to the franchise's lore as it follows the Omaticaya’s journey as they must adapt and learn to harness the water for their survival, as another round of humans threatens their existence. It seems like more than a coincidence that Aang, the protagonist in The Last Airbender, also had to learn to master Air, Earth, and Water in order to survive against an incredibly dangerous foe.
The Way of the Water sets up several things for its sequel, one of which is a new clan of Na’vi people who have a particular penchant for fire. There are several things that we know so far about Avatar 3’s Ash People, including that they draw their source of power from the volcanic regions of Pandora, and that they are a far more aggressive and dominant clan of the Na’vi than the more peaceful water clans in the second movie. To many fans of The Last Airbender, this is far too reminiscent of the Fire Nation. These antagonists are able to bend the element of heat to their will, and are the nation in the story who have upset the balance of nature by wiping out the Air-benders during a time when the Avatar was lying dormant in the ice and unable to protect them. The Fire Nation, like the new Ash People in James Cameron’s version, are more war-like and seek domination over the world. It takes a combination of all the other elements to be able to rise up and defeat them.
The Fire Nation seems to have an advantage over many of the others, because fire-benders are the only ones who can create their own element, and don’t have to rely on there being a source of it nearby. But this actually becomes and asset to Aang and his group in The Last Airbender when Zuko, the former prince of the fire nation, joins their team and teaches them the key to defeating the aggressors. Is this another thing that James Cameron will potentially copy-cat, in having a Na’vi from the Ash People side with Jake Sully and Neytiri, in order to teach them the way of fire and help them to overcome a battle that could tear Pandora apart? With how many similarities already exist between them, it would come as no surprise to fans if Cameron followed suit with more of the successful elements from the Nickelodeon show in order to capitalize on the success of his own franchise.
The Avatar and The Last Airbender confusion goes back further than fans realize, and has been around since before the first Avatar film was ever released in 2009. The Nickelodeon series, which aired in 2005, had to change its name to avoid conflict even then. With how increasingly similar the elemental storylines are becoming, it will be interesting to see how the movie franchise develops, what it chooses to imitate, and how it deviates from the television series that is still one of the most beloved and successful cartoons of its era.