Netflix's Live Action 'Avatar: The Last Air Bender' Removing Sokka's Sexism, Fans Point Out It's His Entire Character Arc (UPDATE)

Throughout the animated series, Sokka thinks girls can't fight and is proven wrong so many times he actually learns something.

January 30, 2024

UPDATED 2/2/24, 3:15 p.m. ET: Fans are also finding issue with Aang's character arc in Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series.

In a new interview with IGN, showrunner and executive producer Albert Kim reveals how Aang is different in the Netflix show versus the original cartoon.

"We decided to make Aang's narrative drive a little clearer. In the first season of the animated series, he's kind of going from place to place looking for adventures," Kim explained. "We needed to make sure that he had that drive from the start. And so, that's a change that we made. We essentially give him this vision of what's going to happen."

The change in narrative gave fans another reason to slam the show.

See original story below.

Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series isn’t exactly like the original animated show—and fans are hesitant.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, cast members Kiawentiio, who plays Katara, and Ian Ousley who plays Sokka, were honest about one of the major differences between the live-action and animated versions. They revealed that Sokka’s sexist nature will not be a part of the latest iteration, which was a major character arc for him, as he learns how to not be sexist during the course of the show.

“There’s more weight with realism in every way,” Ousley said.

Kiawentiio added, “I feel like we also took out the element of how sexist [Sokka] was. I feel like there were a lot of moments in the original show that were iffy.”

“Yeah, totally,” Ousley continued. “There are things that were redirected just because it might play a little differently [in live action].”

Followings the pair’s comments, EW noted that fans have dedicated Reddit threads to Sokka’s sexism, “discussing how the original Sokka (prior to his character journey) would make remarks like ‘Girls are better at fixing pants than guys, and guys are better at hunting and fighting.'”

Now, X users are wondering how Sokka will be portrayed with that part of his character having been stripped. Other fans point to the fact that perhaps this is why Avatar creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino abruptly left the show after spending two years developing it, citing creative differences—that perhaps straying so far from the original storyline created a rift.

Avatar: The Last Airbender debuts on Feb. 22 on Netflix. Check out some fans reactions below.