Netflix Reveals a First Look at Live-Action “Avatar” and the “One Piece” Trailer

Netflix’s success at live action anime adaptations has been hit or miss, but the company continues to try, with new adaptations on their way. Recently, the company gave fans their first look at the live action versions of the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” characters, as well as the trailer for the “One Piece” adaptation.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” is a cartoon that aired on Nickelodeon from 2005-2008, along with its sequel, “The Legend of Korra” coming out in 2012. A new “Avatar” series, featuring the Earthbending successor to Korra, has been announced, but little else is know about it at this time.

The first attempt to bring “Avatar” to life was M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Last Airbender,” was not well-received, with a 5% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 30% audience score. It was criticized for its pacing, effects, whitewashing of characters, and the material it cut or completely skipped over in an attempt to fit an entire season of a TV show into a two-hour movie.

Netflix promises to have learned from this mistake, making the live-action adaptation a full series instead of a movie and working together with its co-creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. However, the two did step away from the project, leaving fans unsure of how it will go.

Fans have received their first look at the characters via a post on Netflix’s Twitter account, showing them Aang (Gordon Cormier), Katara (Kiawentiio Tarbell), Sokka (Ian Ousley), and Zuko (Dallas James Liu).

The Netflix adaptation of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” will release in 2024.

One Piece

“One Piece” is one of the most popular anime and manga series in the world (if not the most), with the ongoing manga having recently exceeded 1,000 chapters. Netflix has been working together with creator Eiichiro Oda to bring the series to life, and released a trailer giving us a first look at the series:

The trailer gives us a look at several characters, including protagonist Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) and crewmates Zoro (or Zolo, depending on the translation) played by Mackenryu, Usopp (Jacob Gibson), Nami (Emily Rudd), and Sanji (Taz Skylar), as well as a quick look at several antagonists.

The “One Piece” adaptation will release on August 31, 2023.

Are you looking forward to either of these shows, or are you worried about Netflix’s track record with adaptations? What do you think of these first looks? Let us know in the comments and keep an eye out for more news from G33k-HQ.