A Twitter user’s mock audition for Netflix’s upcoming live-action adaptation of the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender has gone viral.
On July 5th, @all_F808Z posted a video of himself choreographing the animated series’ infamous opening, which showcases the martial arts of four talented warriors. The moves displayed in the video are quite a feat, too, as they were originally envisioned in 2D animation.
I need your help, Twitter.
I'm tryna get in on this new Avatar show on @netflix! Help ya boi be seen by the right ppl 👌🏾🙏🏾 #avatar #atla pic.twitter.com/0cdNhHOulA— Leg Man 🇵🇸🇨🇩🇸🇩 (@all_F808Z) July 5, 2020
Translating drawings into live action, and making that translation appear both natural and believable, is exactly what Netflix will have to do if their adaptation is to be successful. After all, in 2010, Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan produced a live action film adaptation of the series which – thanks to a mix of bad acting and poor choreography – absolutely bombed with critics. Compared to the performances seen in that movie, @all_F808Z’s moves are not only epic, but fitting. Now, all Netflix needs to do is add some elemental CGI to them.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the source material, Avatar is a fantasy story set in a world where some people are endowed with the power to bend one of the four elements. When the feared Fire Nation begins to conquer the rest of the world in an attempt to become the dominant power, it falls onto the Avatar – a legendary figure whose reincarnating spirit possesses the unique power to control all four elements – to keep the peace.
Despite the hype around Netflix’s new project, very little is known about it. And thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, production has been postponed by at least a few months. A little over a month ago, however, it was reported that the streamer’s version of Avatar: The Last Airbender will not feature any white leads, as this will fit better with the foreign, Eastern-inspired cultures that are presented in the story.