“You’re never going to please everyone”: Avatar: The Last Airbender Creator Has No Regrets Over Korra Backlash That He Deliberately Created Despite the Risk
The biggest compliment for a showrunner is seeing their work transcend time and cultural boundaries to reach a wider audience across the globe. Avatar: The Last Airbender remains a popular story to date with its relevance stretching across time and space to reach the young audience of today in its live-action version. Another story related to Avatar: The Last Airbender is its follow-up series titled The Legend of Korra which follows the titular character’s journey as she realizes her powers and walks in the footsteps of the Avatars that came before her.
Although Korra is the main character of the show, we see Aang’s journey continue in The Legend of Korra as well. Similar to how Roku helps Aang polish his skills and master the art of bending, Aang helps his successor Korra as well. Her quest is plagued with crime, and people who are against bending.
Continuing the Legacy of Avatars with Korra
Showrunners Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko had a brief idea as to what the next Avatar should look and behave like. They wanted a character that stood out while exploring the power of bending in various situations different from what we saw in Avatar: The Last Airbender. While the sequel series did not go on to be as popular as its predecessor, it says a lot about the nature of politics and culture in today’s world. In an interview with Polygon, the creators shed light on the challenges they faced while making Korra and her show,
“I think maybe we knew Korra, as a character and a series, was going to be more challenging for audiences, but that was what felt right to us. You’re never going to please everyone, especially with a sequel, so you may as well do what feels best — and that’s just how we make our shows anyway. The last thing we wanted to do was make the same series all over again, even if a lot of fans of ATLA might have felt that is what they wanted from us.”
The central aspiration was to keep Korra and Aang different in the way they viewed the world and interpreted their responsibilities. There were limitless opportunities for the creators to expand the narrative in all directions and see which one resonated the most with the masses. Where Aang was a positive and likable kid, Korra exuded angst and rage as a regular teenager. Their personalities were poles apart with the thread of being an Avatar tying them together.
When the show premiered, it faced backlash for Korra’s character who had a hard time following rules and making the right decisions. She was prone to making mistakes, and fans did not quite love this aspect. In the end, both shows were meant to stand the test of time and remain relevant even years after they first premiered. The overarching story is more than just about element bending and battles between nations. Each character and plot point comments on society at large and urges viewers to think harder.
Also Read: Original Avatar: The Last Airbender Unaired Pilot Had a Completely Different Aang
Creating Korra and Crafting her Journey
Writing a complex character like Korra was not easy. The creators of the show The Legend of Korra knew what they wanted out of the sequel story and worked towards creating a protagonist who was reluctant to take on such a massive responsibility. For a hero who is battling inner turmoils regularly, they needed stronger villains to challenge her and provoke her out of her comfort zone. The creators shared,
“Once we figured out that people like Tenzin and Lin Beifong (who should be her mentor figures) could actually hinder Korra in her quest to study airbending and take on the job she was meant to do, that helped me understand her predicament better. And coming up with Amon solidified everything. Since Korra was pro-bending, having an antagonist who was philosophically anti-bending gave her the perfect obstacle to her growth and challenged her worldview.”
The burgeoning Avatar universe has many stories to tell and Korra was just one of the threads the creators pulled at. Moreover, not everything is black and white in the mystical world of Avatars. There are morally grey areas and characters who ignite a new thought in every viewer. As the showrunners mentioned, not everyone can fall in love with a project, so the best they can do is stay true to the essence of the story and deliver their best.
