Highlights

The first season of Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender mirrors the pace of the original animated show, only telling part of Aang's journey.
Netflix has renewed the live-action show for two additional seasons, covering events from Seasons 2 and 3 of the original series.
Mixed fan reactions to the live-action reboot haven't stopped Netflix from giving the show more seasons to grow and improve.

Netflix's live-action take on the classic animated show Avatar: The Last Airbender has been widely discussed by fans and critics, which isn't a surprise considering how popular the original show was. Since the live-action show mirrors the pace of the original, the first season of the remake covers around the same amount of ground as the first season of the animated show. This means that only part of the story has been told so far, and more of Aang's journey is still to come.

Luckily, for those that want to see more from this live-action reboot, Netflix has renewed Avatar: The Last Airbender for two additional seasons. While this initially seems like good news, there are some who don't love the idea of this remake in the first place, or aren't a fan of the way it was executed and who aren't super excited to see more of this show. This begs the question: does the live-action Avatar really need more seasons, or was one enough?

Avatar: The Last Airbender – 8 Things Netflix’s Live-Action Series Changes From The Cartoon

Netflix has released their live-action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and they have made some controversial changes from the cartoon.

Netflix Has Renewed Avatar: The Last Airbender

Netflix just announced that the Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action show will be renewed for both a second and third season. Evidently, the reception to the show and the viewing numbers were high enough to warrant Netflix investing more into the show, with 41.1M views in just the first 11 days of its release. Each of these seasons will cover the same events that appear in Seasons 2 and 3 of the animated series, and are entitled "Earth" and "Fire" respectively.

Does Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender Deserve More Seasons?

A group of Kyoshi warrior women in training

Netflix has a habit of canceling shows after only a couple of seasons if their viewing numbers aren't perceived to be high enough. This is, of course, a problem because it leads to shows being canceled before their time and not being given the space to grow the story or the audience. Avatar: The Last Airbender, by virtue of its popularity, did bring in the viewing numbers that Netflix wanted, which is what gave them the go-ahead to greenlight two additional seasons.

Though the fan reaction to the reboot has been mixed, giving the show more seasons will most likely be for the best. It gives the show time to tell more of its story, and take into account the criticisms that were made about the first season to work to make the second and third seasons even better. It's hard to remake an animated show in a live-action format, and the limitations become clear throughout the course of the show. While it had rocky moments and made some questionable character decisions, giving the show more seasons just gives them another chance to take a crack at the material and hopefully please fans more in the later seasons.

There are a lot of big events in the series that take place in the second and third seasons, such as the introduction of Toph and Zuko's eventual redemption arc that leads to him actually becoming friends with Team Avatar. The show getting extended means that there will be an opportunity to showcase these moments, as they are some of the most memorable from the show and favorites among fans.

How Do Fans Feel About Netflix's Take on Avatar?

iroh and zuko with jade in the background live action netflix the last airbender

So far, fans have had somewhat mixed reactions to the show. Some feel that the acting is a little lackluster or that the fun style of the show that could be conveyed through animation was lost in the translation to live-action. Specifically, some fans have been critical of the fact that the humor, which was very present in the original animated show, wasn't as present in this live-action remake. This is especially notable because of how well the original show was able to balance between its comedic moments and serious plotlines.

However, though there are fans who haven't enjoyed the show as much as they'd hoped to, there are still quite a few fans who have really positive things to say about the adaptation. There are a lot of fans who have praised the visual effects, particularly the way that bending has been portrayed. Those who enjoyed the show are happy with the chemistry that the main group of characters has, and that the dialogue between them flows well. There are also people who are just happy to see beloved ATLA characters on screen again, and love that they're getting to experience the show again in a new way.

These mixed reactions can make it hard to tell what the true fan reception of the series is, but evidently, Netflix thought it was positive enough to warrant two more seasons, despite some of the criticisms and how wary fans were of the series before it was released. Though some who think the live-action remake was unnecessary would like the show to be left alone, giving this remake more seasons isn't a bad thing. It just gives the story more time to grow and evolve, and it allows the show to have a chance to improve itself where it needs to by taking good faith fan critiques to heart.