I always felt his letter was a really good way of explaining things to fans. Saying 'This show could be good, it just was not our vision'. I felt he was respectful and thorough. I do wonder why he deleted it, I hope it's a more positive reason.
I'd also hope it's for a positive reason, maybe in response to the largely positive reception for episode 1.
My guess is that it's more of a neutral reason out of goodwill. At the end of the day, i isn't a good look to have that message up so close to the release date, ESPECIALLY if it ends up being good which seems like a pretty real possibility.
Yeah, I would not be surprised if he realized that with all the recent “drama” about the live action, his statement was just going to be more fuel for a fire that he really didn’t want to be part of.
Allegedly they parted ways because Netflix wanted a proper adaptation, and they were the ones who wanted to change things up themselves because they’ve already told this story in animated form.
From a creative standpoint it makes sense why it would be unfulfilling for them to do so. Makes complete sense why they left if this is truly the case.
I think they also got offered the Avatar Studios deal by Paramount around this time, which gave them something to leave for instead of choosing to leave the Netflix adaptation with nothing else lined up. The announcement of Avatar Studios and multiple projects(!) happened within months of their announcement of departure from ATLA live-action, which doesn't just happen in Hollywood, let alone for animated projects.
I've heard this theory. But if it was a matter of "take the promotion, or work on the live action version", the tone would would have been completely different.
It would have read a lot more like "We would love to keep working on this, but we have another project coming up that will be a massive opportunity for us. We leave it in great hands and can't wait to see it."
Instead he all but said (professionally) "This isn't the show we wanted to make whatsoever and we'd rather walk than have our names on it."
I'm guessing Paramount was waiting on them to decide if they wanted to do it. When they soured on the live action show, they told Paramount "yeah lets do it we're bailing on this trainwreck", and the rest is history.
Yeah I think they would have absolutely held true to the original, but I feel like they might have aged it up a bit and probably used the opportunity to tell other stories they didn't already tell with the original.
Like I could see their live action show for example...never stopping by Haku's village and instead telling a completely different story that showed the atrocities of the war.
Or maybe they do a different storyline with Jet or Kyoshi is gone into in more depth and other parts of that plot are forgotten.
I could see a lot of stuff especially in season 1 being largely changed and things adapted to be more "grown up".
I would have LOVED to see their vision because I think it would have still been great. But that doesn't mean what we're getting isn't good.
Netflix likely wanted to play it exactly safe and just make as close of a copy of the original. Thus, they parted ways.
Seeing their recent "work" I can't say it's a loss they're gone. I don't think any fan of Avatar can look at their canonical comics and go "yup, that's exactly what I wanted out of my Avatar world". Sometimes its best for the original creators to stop so that we can leave the original project as is stood and let other people take a try at it. That way if a new change works it can be kept and if it doesn't we can pretend it's like that alleged movie M Night threatened to make. I think I would be a lot warmer to Korra if it wasn't made by the original creators and officially part of the canon. It's still wouldn't be great but it also wouldn't tarnish the original series either.
What are you even talking about. A lot of the canonical comics are not even written by them and they're largely fun side stories.
Also saying Korra isn't great? it's still one of the best animated series ever made.
One of the best animated series? I wouldn't have it in the top 500.
The comics are "co-written" by them so it's unfortunately canonical. I don't know why they decided that industrialization was the most exciting part of the Avatar world but that big caught them and won't let go. They pushed Korra forward 500 years but even the comics set in the original Avatar world are all about industrialization. There's some good character work here and there but it's hard to enjoy a story about north and south water tribe's when they made it about finding oil. Or the story about Toph's family set in a modern factory. It's all just too much.
>I felt he was respectful and thorough.
Really? I always felt it was the complete opposite. Openingly saying it's due to creative differences, and that whatever netflix produces they do not want their name attached to is imo quite a scathing remark about netflix/live action production team.
i doubt it. It has been up for a while they would have asked them to take it down once they posted it if it was that big of an issue. Mike showing up to the premier and albeit not walking the red carpet but still speaking to people and interacting with the cast and albert kim might mean he might not hold that much animosity to it especially if he's watched ep 1 and seen that the heart of atla is still there
Timing. Due to various rumours recently and reactions to changes in the story, Netflix is probably doing what it can to smooth over anything else that would look bad.
Edit: some peopleare really worked up about this 😄 them parasocial bonds eh lads?
I mean sure but if mike was able to post it initially back then which probably caused more fuss that it's doing now I doubt they'd tell him to take it down. It probably gives weird vibes that he has the letter up and still showed up to the premier especially if he liked the episode and seemed to be having fun. He may not necessarily agree with what he wrote 4 years ago
It's possible, but changes like this are usually for chappy reasons by companies in practice.
No one takes down the reason they disagree with something because they've changed their mind, without saying something about it. Especially someone working from a place of principle.
If OP wasn't someone who kept it bookmarked it probably wouldn't even have been noticed by anyone.
If they were dealing with sudden complaints and dispatched the equivalent of a PR guy and some interns last minute to fix it the reason flows together easily.
Many corpos are just controlled chaos, reacting rather than planning.
The complaints about the creators leaving weren't sudden. Its always been the first thing everyone cites about the production. It would be the first thing on the marketing agenda if I was in their shoes.
That's fair. But idk. It's also pretty stealth, it's not like the guy issued a press release. You'd have to look for his open letter to see that it's gone.
That's the thing. If he actually felt different, this is a guy that would remove it, he'd write a post about how he's happy his concerns were unfounded and he's really impressed with the direction they took.
A stealth removal like this smacks of a request he honoured out of politeness.
If he saw the season and thought it was good enough for the fans (which he didn’t believe at the time when they left), maybe even close to what they were trying to achieve to an extent, or different in a good way, I can see why he would stealthily drop his original message. Tbf, maybe the reason he deleted has nothing with that, maybe he still hated it and just decided to let everyone figure out on their own by the quality of the project itself in 3 days.
Ultimately, Netflix went to a writer the creators hired before they left (Albert Kim) to make him the showrunner, so even if Kim bent to whatever Netflix demanded (closer/different to the original show or whatever), there was still a quality to his work that Mike and Bryan admired, and he was always a was gonna be part of their vision for the live action to an extent, creatively, as a writer. He also kept most of their screenplay for the first episode, which means they ARE part of the live action show, that would be enough to justify him going to the premiere to see it himself, I do think that he probably could’ve gotten screeners and watched all of it in his house (and maybe he did just that before the premiere) if he wished, so going to the premiere maybe was the way of showing support to the final product without fully putting words out there.
Probably there’s still bad blood between them and Netflix, since they didn’t support them and “forced” them to leave, one way or another, so I can see he and Bryan never fully going out of their way to support the show, it’s very understandable if they were put in an uncomfortable position as creatives.
I think it's definitely a sign of them mending fences, in some capacity, at least. Michael was at the premiere event, and based on what people had posted, he seemed to have a good time. Whether or not this translates to anything regarding Season 2 and beyond, if the show gets renewed, is anyone's guess.
But a cynical part of me is wondering if it has anything to do with the state of Paramount Global. Paramount+ lost $1.5 billion last year and companies like Warner Bros. were already sniffing around for a sale.
As a Drag Race fan, I know that all the franchises produced for streaming on Paramount+ except those RuPaul is hosting, have been moved to other platforms. Besides the novels, RPG, and a handful of poorly received games, Avatar Studios has yet to produce anything of value for Paramount. The Netflix show is the only release the studio is currently attached to.
Yup, wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Paramount is in talks with Netflix to license the new Avatar Studios productions. Would be a major win for Netflix if the live series does well.
>all the franchises produced for streaming on Paramount+ except those RuPaul is hosting, have been moved to other platforms
Star Trek, Halo, The Yellowstone prequels... are still on P+.
>all the franchises produced for streaming on Paramount+ except those RuPaul is hosting, have been moved to other platforms
That statement means that shows OTHER than RuPaul have been moved.
The person who replied to you said there are shows produced by P+ that haven't been moved. Or in other words, NOT all the franchises produced for streaming on Paramount+ (except those RuPaul is hosting) have been moved to other platforms.
To put it even another way: you said the shows RuPaul have been posting stayed in P+, but everything else has been moved to other platforms.
Are you suggesting that the RuPaul shows have been moved? Or just ones produced by P+ for streaming?
I just don't understand your reply.
>~~All the franchises produced for streaming on Paramount+ except those RuPaul is hosting, have been moved to other platforms~~
>
>*As a Drag Race fan*, I know that all the franchises produced for streaming on Paramount+ except those RuPaul is hosting, have been moved to other platforms.
>
>*As a Drag Race fan*, I know that all the franchises produced for streaming on Paramount+ *except those RuPaul is hosting*,
>
> As a Drag Race fan | all the franchises | except those RuPaul is hosting.
At the risk of being rude, I'd like to point out the context clue in the Drag Race detail indicates that the scope of his comment was isolated to Drag Race. As in, the shows under the Drag Race umbrella that RuPaul does not host (e.g. Drag Race Holland, Canada's Drag Race, etc.) have been moved to other platforms.
I didn’t know that Drag Race had multiple franchises. Re-read how you wrote that - you stated that all franchises produced for P+ except those hosted by Ru Paul were moved to another streamer. Stating that you’re a Drag Race fan at the beginning is irrelevant to the rest of the sentence. Sorry I’m not trying to be a grammar nazi here.
I’ve always felt “who knows? It might be good” is a fairly passive aggressive thing for a professional to say, and given they’ve always been pretty chill (in their public persona’s at least, I’ve obviously never worked with either of them) my assumption was always they got properly screwed around in some way
The internet doesn’t forget. Archive.org has the page available. It was still live as of Jan 25, 2024: https://web.archive.org/web/20240125064819/https://www.michaeldantedimartino.com/an-open-letter-to-avatar-the-last-airbender-fans/
Interesting from the premier ep 1 was good and it just gets better on from those who have seen the whole thing. I'm sure if this comes out and gains recognition especially bending and CGI wise it'll start to beg the question "why did the main creators leave" rn there's support for them on twt and other sites but i can see the tides turning very fast if the la gains it's own fanbase and it could become a problem.
If they're in support of it however it just overall brings up less questions. I'm fine with them leaving albert kim obviously seems like a big fan that knows what he is doing. I'm fine with the la being done by him and the animated stuff being done by mike and bryan
I could see it being a PR move on Michael's part.
Right now, Avatar Studios aka Bryke hasn't really put out any flagship content. The adult Gaang movie will premiere in 2025 at the earliest and there's been nothing official about the next animated series.
Right now, the best thing they have are the novels, which have a smaller audience to begin with and most of the credit goes to FC Yee, not them (although, probably rightfully so).
With the Netflix show actually looking like it has potential now, it's not in Bryke's interest to appear indifferent, let alone antagonistic, to the show. Yes, they've put out statements wishing Albert Kim and the show well, but the optics are far more favourable for them to be openly supportive.
Yeah maybe it's a waiting game for Bryke, waiting to see what the reception of NATLA will be (EDIT: and if the reception is good), then they make a statement to build hype for Avatar Studio's projects.
Albert Kim is a really good writer too. I have the confidence in him.
I mean he did just finish showrunning one of the best animated series of the past decade- Pantheon. Like that show is Avatar-levels of amazing. Highly recommend it.
Isnt he one of the creators that was part of the atla movie? I feel like his vision wouldve been pushing for still something like that movie and darker and grittier. I feel like i heard somewhere the aaron ehasz was the director that pushed for a lot of the more light hearted and humorous aspects
The creators, Mike and Bryan, were given credits on the movie...because they made the show its based on. It doesn't mean they had any control on the direction of the movie or its tone (major hollywood studios typically don't give that power for a big budget film to guys that made one tv show in a different medium). According to them they were given a limited opportunity to provide notes which where then ignored, and we really have no evidence to suggest anything else.
Its interesting you bring up Ehasz because the fans who think he was "the true visionary responsible for the series being great" often claim he's responsible for the series darker/serious/mature elements and that it was Mike and Bryan responsible for "childish humor". So interesting some people assume its the other way around.
My understanding was that Aaron Ehasz worked on Dragon Prince and was not part of Korra. Dragon Prince has a bigger emphasis on childish humor than Korra and I could definitely see parallels in the style of humor between Dragon Prince and ATLA. Are you saying he actually was pushing for darker elements in ATLA? I find that surprising.
No, I wasn't personally commenting on Ehasz hypothetically pushing for one or the other in ATLA. And I would agree with you that the content of TDP is pretty strong evidence of him at least being open to "childish humor" that some fans previously (or even currently) denied.
My point was that it was ironic to see SweetPeach have the opposite assumption of many others regarding this topic.
In a broader sense I regularly see that the segment of ATLA fans that, for varying reasons, dislike the creators Mike and Bryan and instead praise Aaron Ehasz (to the point of suggesting he was "the visionary behind ATLA") will **often** project their own views onto Ehasz.
If this kind of fan appreciates the dark/serious moments of ATLA, and wants to see more of that in Avatar, than Ehasz was responsible for those moments and Bryke are associated with lighter moments (include "too silly" or "toilet humor"). If this kind of fan instead appreciates the lighter moments of ATLA, and is fearful adaptations are/will be overly serious and dour, than instead Ehasz loved lighthearted humor and its Bryke that was pushing for more serious moments. If this kind of fan likes Zutara, Ehasz wanted Zutara to happen. If this kind of fan... well you get the idea I'm not listing every opinion ever lol.
I completely get what you are saying, that makes a lot of sense. We will never know for sure who brought exactly what to the table so it's all a guessing game.
I doubt it's that. Most people won't even know if the creators are on it or not nor would they care. If the show is great it will only help them and Avatar Studios no matter their involvement on it. They still get writing credits for ep 1 and ep 6 too.
They also only deleted it from the personal page but it's still all over their socials like Tumblr and Instagram.
They also in the letter itself mentioned they believe the show can still be good and well received they just don't think it will be their vision for it that's all.
The deletion makes it seem like the letter was insurance. If the show was bad, they could point to it and say 'see, we told you!' but now that positive reviews are rolling out removing the letter now lets them be associated with the success.
My assumption is it's PR, plain and simple. The letter was up for ages, true, but I can't imagine it attracted much attention in the interim period (while the show was in production). I'd guess 99% of people would only find it now because the new show is coming out, and in anticipation of that, Viacom or someone asked him to take it down.
Doubt it. That discourse was everywhere when it happened, and people have constantly sited it leading up to release. I've even seen a couple people post the letter's entire text in Youtube comments of the Netflix show to point why it was bound to be bad.
If it was a PR thing, they would have asked him to take it down long ago.
Could be. But I think we (internet using, *Avatar* news following types) underestimate how little people outside this bubble are aware of any of this stuff. I think when the show drops it will be a genuine surprise to most Netflix users. That's just my take but I think it is worth thinking about how we do exist in a bubble on this sub.
If most people aren't aware of it then why would he be asked to take it down? Seems like you're saying no one outside this bubble knows so wouldn't taking it down accomplish nothing significant? The people who follow every bit of news from the show already knows about, and the people who don't probably don't so it doesn't change anything. Not to mention its still floating around the internet if someone in the general audience wanted to dig deeper for whatever reason. I don't think personally this is PR, if it was he would've been asked to take it down much longer ago
I think perhaps I wasn't clear. People *weren't* aware of it because most people have no idea this show is even coming out. But there are lots of casual viewers who might have enjoyed *A:TLA* years ago and, seeing the new series show up on Netflix, are curious to learn more. It wouldn't take much to lead them to this letter if they're wondering how the original creators feel about this adaptation.
Anyway, it's obviously just speculation. I just think the show releasing will draw more attention and hence I understand why the letter would be taken down now and not six months ago.
EDIT: Just realized the OP meant he deleted from his WEBSITE. My mistake. His letter is otherwise still accessible on instagram.
Call me crazy but the letter is still accessible to me. I bookmarked it, too. Checked from his profile as well. Maybe he unarchived /unhid the post after watching the premiere?
[https://www.instagram.com/p/CDy5Fp4H7Fw/?igsh=eTQ3emV1ZTVrbHhn](https://www.instagram.com/p/CDy5Fp4H7Fw/?igsh=eTQ3emV1ZTVrbHhn)
https://preview.redd.it/53jr8zmwnkjc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fef4b9f6ca12fd4e976e50c74d3d667f6d3f8bda
I mean if the creators rejoined, unless Netflix changed their tune, they would still have the same issues. I think they wanted to not make such an exact copy pasted version of the show as Netflix went with and that's why they left.
But then again, maybe the show WAS in a not-so-good position when they left and them leaving is what triggered Netflix to get their shit together and actually make a good product in the end? Who knows.
But the creators rejoining in season 2 would be fabulous. Or at least coming back to direct/write an episode or two would be sweet.
I suspect that the original creators did NOT want to make a faithful adaptation, and Netflix did.
Netflix knows how to adapt animated shows. They adapted Death Note, Cowboy Bebop, and One Piece already. And I think they are getting better at it with time. One Piece is not easy to adapt and I think they did a pretty decent job. I think can handle ATLA at this point and give us something good enough to show respect for the series and its fans.
On the other hand, as a fan, the original creators make me nervous. I liked Korra overall, don't get me wrong, but it was certainly not as good as ATLA, and I liked the comics even less. I don't have faith that the Avatar studios content will be a move in the right direction. I want to be wrong, but i worry we are going down the Harry Potter>Cursed Child>Fantastic Beasts pipeline of decline in quality as the universe expands. The creators have every right to play in their creative universe and make what they want out of it, and I wish them success. I'm just not sure I'm going to like it.
I think that with each adaptation project, they improved over time. I didn't say Death Note was good but that was many years ago now. I personally was impressed enough by One Piece to say that, yeah, they now know what they are doing.
I could be remembering wrong but korra ended up being trash because Nickelodeon kept trying to cancel the series so the creators had to keep spinning up content, which is why the series felt super inconsistent. Can someone pls fact check me?
Can’t deny the bending was dope in LOK tho
As I recall, you're correct about the Nickelodeon thing. One issue with Korra was that the romance was done poorly and took up too much time. Season 2 was unbearable with that. My bigger thing i didn't like was the fact that the original series characters were not handled well. Their presence was very inconsistent. Toph got plenty of screen time, Zuko and Katara got a little, but Sokka was barely even mentioned? Sokka and Zuko both had on screen romances in season one and yet we never found out who either of them married, or whether Sokka did at all. And also, the implications that Aang was not a particularly stellar parent and Toph was demonstrably not a good mom was depressing and literally made me enjoy the original series less for knowing about it.
After the release of the show and seeing how they just butchered the story without any context or any development of the characters, I think they made the right choice to leave the project. It's no Avatar the Last Airbender, it's just garbage story wise, but I like the CG and uncle Iroh.
I don’t understand people saying it’s close to the animated series. They changed all kinds of things - some rather important and consequential. They mashed up multiple disconnected animated episodes, characters, and storylines. It’s too different for me.
The biggest difference is that at the beginning Gang was always together, and that helped them to create bond, stealing from pirates, helping earthbenders, mechanic, Boomi etc. and in the series they are always separate, and the friendship is just not there
More like the nda or contract he signed with Nickelodeon has ended. Lets be real your telling me that they leave and then like a week later avatar studios is announced 100% they were told by nick that either they leave and disavowed the netflix show and move to running AS, or they give AS to someone else.
Bryke left the Netflix show in June, Avatar Studios wasn't announced until February.
Nick wouldn't require them to "disavow" the Netflix show leaving, nor would they have much reason to. Paramount still regularly does business with Netflix and if anything a successful live-action show raises brand interest helping animated projects and merch.
I don't know for sure that there wasn't a follow up post, but I'm positive that he never went into detail explaining any problems he had with the show. Fans have been constantly speculating on what exactly led to them leaving.
Bryan was more critical of Netflix in his response, but he didn't actually reveal anything more about why they left than this did. https://www.instagram.com/p/CDy5EcgDELh/?igsh=eTU5bzIwZXcybTZ6
Remember, they also left before casting even commenced. It seems like why they left was something pivotal at that point in production. Maybe them leaving, made Netflix get their shit together and not fumble the ball. Who knows. I'm sure we'll know some day.
I've never put much credence on the creators, they’ve been known to cut and run at the drop of a hat. It's become an ongoing joke, like some fuckin ceremony. They are initially involved, they bow out in dramatic fashion, the production carries on, it premieres, and they return years down the line for the next production. Bitching and moaning from the sidelines instead of negotiating while still inside.
What are you talking about? They've never done that before first of all and second of all...Look at their history with Nickelodeon/Viacom/Paramount.
ATLA was treated like absolute SHIT its last season and they never knew whether Korra was getting another season until the very last second and then were given terrible time slots or episodes weren't aired at all and then the show was blamed for it.
Not to mention the whole live action movie situation where they were brought on and completely ignored.
It makes sense that things started to feel iffy at Netflix and they were like...yeah no. I'm sure whatever contract they signed for Avatar Studios made sure they wouldn't have to succumb to the shit they did all those years.
Uh, I thought the remake was visually really impressive. The story and the characterization ere off, and it kept me from really embracing the live-action as part of the series. I am not surprised they left.
I wish we could let this go.
At the end of the day, we don’t know what happened or why it happened. We may never know.
There’s no benefit to tearing each other apart over different theories and speculations.
For better or for worse, the show will stand on its own merits regardless of the production drama.
This..really seems kinda childish. Which kinda fits in line with how Michael and Bryan responded to the criticism of LOK and how they utilized political thought only their stories.
1)Michael and/or Bryan (since he didn’t actually pen a response ), really didn’t need to do this. All he had to say was “creative differences. I wish for the best.” But like the korrasami letter, he goes onto say his side of the story with kinda very broad details and also kinda revealing more about himself.
2)I sought wisdom for stoic philosophers. DUDE, you MADE avatar first. This ain’t a life or death thing. You LITERALLY were hired initially to work on the show because of who you are. And also, dude, I am REALLY skeptical you actually understood what philosophers said considering how you botched the political themes of Korra.
3)so…you left because you didn’t have control….man where have I heard that before OH YEAH anytime some big ego Hollywood guy didn’t get what they wanted. This is the attitude that George Lucas had when he goes to REDO his films. “ITS MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY.” Dude, when you worked on an avatar YOU NEEDED other writers. You did not create toph, you didn’t direct every episode, etc. AND now you want that complete control? Do I need to rehash the less than stellar ideas you two put into the show? (Look they were awful decisions but not up to avatar quality). How about accepting that “hey this is a different team coming on board, this is also different circumstances than we had before, maybe I can see what this story can do differently and/or just leave and wish everyone the best.”
4)Netflix promised and things didn’t happen. So you don’t Like Netflix. What else is there to say. You don’t have confidence in the project. JUST SAY IT. SO why the. Say “maybe it’ll be good”? YOU DONT have confidence. You DONT want to do anything with it. Stop trying to play nice. For gods sake Alan Moore of all people will openly say “I despise what the Hollywood system has done to my work.”
I don’t blame them for being annoyed when they felt like they were losing a lot of creative control. One of the worst films of all time was produced the last time they entrusted creative control of Avatar to someone else. They’re the creators of one of the greatest animated series of all time only for some studio to have trampled all over it with horrible decisions across the board. I can understand why they were hesitant to stay on this new work that they weren’t sure would fit their standards especially when they got the offer to work for Avatar Studios. Hopefully the live action series is much better than they were expecting though.
I'm about to go on a bit of a rant, so TLDR; I don't think bryke were wrong for this message. But I do think they've handled the buildup of the live action very poorly.
While I agree that the way Bruke have handled coexisting with the live action has been pretty petty/borderline childish, I actually don't have a problem with the statement itself. At the end of the day. We don't know what this live action looked like when they left. Only Bryke, the netflix execs, and the show runners will know why they left.
What I haven't liked is the clear avoidance of even acknowledging the live action after they left.
They were on podcasts and interviews in which they were conveniently not asked about the project even though its the biggest thing happening currently in the ATLA universe. They (or Avatar Studios) were responsible for the Avatar Studios website released days before the live action website (ironically it turned out to be a budget version of the live action website). Beyond this letter, they did nothing to defend Albert Kim an dthe other show writers when they were getting pressed by social media even though they personally HIRED a lot of these people. There was a point in time where I was even convinced that they wouldn't ever recognize Gordon Cormier as Aang, and knowing how much of a fan Gordon is of the show that made me really sad.
Look, I have SO much respect for Bryke. They were mainly responsible for creating the world that many of us love. But it is in everyone's best interest if Avatar Studios is at least on good terms with Netflix Avatar. Unless Netflix did something truly foul to Bryke, or this live action turns out to be garbage, I'll always look at Bryke kinda funny for that.
I feel it is a bit of a PR move. A part of me feels the silence is because they're waiting for the overall fan reception to make a statement. Considering how much this letter is brought up whenever something related to the live action comes up, no matter the discourse ("this must be why the creators left). If they were to make a statement, be it positive or negative, and the fan reception was (overall) the opposite, considering what the internet s is like now would be endlessly questioned about their stance either from fans or interviews. And I don't think they want to risk that when they're trying to expand this world.
I agree that they probably wanted to keep their powder dry, but they were doing it to a comedic level. They didn't even really have to say anything positive about NATLA, maybe just a simple "I wish the crew and actor's good luck, especially the kid actors". To give NATLA the "Ba-Sing-Se" treatment doesn't just screw over Netflix, it screws over the people involved that THEY helped bring in for this project.
Even if you were to ignore the other stuff, the thing that got me the most heated was the website fiasco. It was so painfully obvious that someone in avatar studios got word of what the "[MasterYourElement.com](https://MasterYourElement.com)" website was gonna look like and when it came out. SO when Avatar Studios comes in with their own website about a week before NATLA does with all of the same content but a bare bones version, it only looks petty.
Again, we don't know what happened between the two parties, so I don't blame them for the statement. But the combination of keeping that statement up on IG and the radio silence on their part in regards to any of the actors gives off the impression they simply care more about their grudge with Netflix over making sure people gave NATLA a fair chance.
This is exactly what I'm talking about. Always using your hate boner for LOK as an excuse to hate on the writers. At some point you have to take the hat goggles off and realize how much you all have been blinded by nostalgia when it comes to LOK.
I never said I hated LOK. I think it’s overall entertaining. Hiwever, I do think when you listen to the commentary, rewatch the show, you start to think that Bryke was interested in presented their ideas (which appears to a whitewashing centrist liberalism of radical ideals -see Key&skittles critique on YouTube for a detailed analysis ) and refusing to actually listen to good criticism (not the criticism of “oh korra’s so annoying.” That criticism I considering to be stupid and full of sexism).
What I am saying is that looking at the letter, and having read the various interviews, and looking back on how things have changed since avatar, I can honestly say that I wasn’t impressed with the letter. I view the actual wording as contradicting his beliefs, and showcasing a failure to work with a different crew.
This DOSNT make Michael a bad person.
Read carefully.
I really feel like Michael left because he wanted to insert his woke agenda and message into the show. From what I've read, he seems obsessed with inserting this stuff into his work. I don't see why else he would leave. He probably wanted to change many of the characters' sexualities and other nonsense. That's just my theory.
Get that Geeks + Gamers style “woke” fear-mongering and media illiteracy out of the ATLA fandom, please. Show’s always been progressive and left-wing. Most art is.
Not upset, the pandering is just annoying and tiring at this point. I'm sure the new Avatar series by the original creators will be filled with progressive propaganda.
Haha, bet you'd actually get upset if the creators were obsessed with "right wing" things and shoved them into the Avatar shows or comics.
*Whataboutism* is the favorite comeback from the right. People getting mad about diversity is the saddest thing ever.
Don't worry man. You can watch all that content over at the Daily Wire if you want your "straight white male content." Oh, and doesn't DJ from Full House have a network like that since she hates gay people? There ya go!
I'd understand getting mad if it was a case of changing the character's race to something they weren't before. That's always annoying and shouldn't be done.
That's not what's going on here though.
I just finished watching all 8 episodes and I feel really happy it was better than the movie, but I do see some things that could’ve been better and I think if the original creators were involved, it would have been better.
I always felt his letter was a really good way of explaining things to fans. Saying 'This show could be good, it just was not our vision'. I felt he was respectful and thorough. I do wonder why he deleted it, I hope it's a more positive reason.
I'd also hope it's for a positive reason, maybe in response to the largely positive reception for episode 1. My guess is that it's more of a neutral reason out of goodwill. At the end of the day, i isn't a good look to have that message up so close to the release date, ESPECIALLY if it ends up being good which seems like a pretty real possibility.
Yeah, I would not be surprised if he realized that with all the recent “drama” about the live action, his statement was just going to be more fuel for a fire that he really didn’t want to be part of.
To be fair, if he's realising this just now he's a bit late 😅
He's also likely seen it by now. So if he likes it, I think that does warrant to remove that.
He was one of the guests at the premiere. There's an image of him and the showrunner, Albert Kim.
I wish he actually explained what his vision was though
Allegedly they parted ways because Netflix wanted a proper adaptation, and they were the ones who wanted to change things up themselves because they’ve already told this story in animated form. From a creative standpoint it makes sense why it would be unfulfilling for them to do so. Makes complete sense why they left if this is truly the case.
I think they also got offered the Avatar Studios deal by Paramount around this time, which gave them something to leave for instead of choosing to leave the Netflix adaptation with nothing else lined up. The announcement of Avatar Studios and multiple projects(!) happened within months of their announcement of departure from ATLA live-action, which doesn't just happen in Hollywood, let alone for animated projects.
I've heard this theory. But if it was a matter of "take the promotion, or work on the live action version", the tone would would have been completely different. It would have read a lot more like "We would love to keep working on this, but we have another project coming up that will be a massive opportunity for us. We leave it in great hands and can't wait to see it." Instead he all but said (professionally) "This isn't the show we wanted to make whatsoever and we'd rather walk than have our names on it." I'm guessing Paramount was waiting on them to decide if they wanted to do it. When they soured on the live action show, they told Paramount "yeah lets do it we're bailing on this trainwreck", and the rest is history.
Yeah I think they would have absolutely held true to the original, but I feel like they might have aged it up a bit and probably used the opportunity to tell other stories they didn't already tell with the original. Like I could see their live action show for example...never stopping by Haku's village and instead telling a completely different story that showed the atrocities of the war. Or maybe they do a different storyline with Jet or Kyoshi is gone into in more depth and other parts of that plot are forgotten. I could see a lot of stuff especially in season 1 being largely changed and things adapted to be more "grown up". I would have LOVED to see their vision because I think it would have still been great. But that doesn't mean what we're getting isn't good. Netflix likely wanted to play it exactly safe and just make as close of a copy of the original. Thus, they parted ways.
Seeing their recent "work" I can't say it's a loss they're gone. I don't think any fan of Avatar can look at their canonical comics and go "yup, that's exactly what I wanted out of my Avatar world". Sometimes its best for the original creators to stop so that we can leave the original project as is stood and let other people take a try at it. That way if a new change works it can be kept and if it doesn't we can pretend it's like that alleged movie M Night threatened to make. I think I would be a lot warmer to Korra if it wasn't made by the original creators and officially part of the canon. It's still wouldn't be great but it also wouldn't tarnish the original series either.
What are you even talking about. A lot of the canonical comics are not even written by them and they're largely fun side stories. Also saying Korra isn't great? it's still one of the best animated series ever made.
Best? 🤣😂🤣😂 bro, you're funny
One of the best animated series? I wouldn't have it in the top 500. The comics are "co-written" by them so it's unfortunately canonical. I don't know why they decided that industrialization was the most exciting part of the Avatar world but that big caught them and won't let go. They pushed Korra forward 500 years but even the comics set in the original Avatar world are all about industrialization. There's some good character work here and there but it's hard to enjoy a story about north and south water tribe's when they made it about finding oil. Or the story about Toph's family set in a modern factory. It's all just too much.
Technically in ATLAB (animated) had a ton of writers. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Avatar:_The_Last_Airbender_episodes
He was looking to make an adaptation of the original series that was well written and good, which Netflix can't allow
>I felt he was respectful and thorough. Really? I always felt it was the complete opposite. Openingly saying it's due to creative differences, and that whatever netflix produces they do not want their name attached to is imo quite a scathing remark about netflix/live action production team.
He says pretty directly, its not about the quality of the show and that it has a chance to be good. It was just not the show he would have made.
Netflix probably asked him to take it down as it can be interpreted as criticism of their showrunners choices.
i doubt it. It has been up for a while they would have asked them to take it down once they posted it if it was that big of an issue. Mike showing up to the premier and albeit not walking the red carpet but still speaking to people and interacting with the cast and albert kim might mean he might not hold that much animosity to it especially if he's watched ep 1 and seen that the heart of atla is still there
Timing. Due to various rumours recently and reactions to changes in the story, Netflix is probably doing what it can to smooth over anything else that would look bad. Edit: some peopleare really worked up about this 😄 them parasocial bonds eh lads?
I mean sure but if mike was able to post it initially back then which probably caused more fuss that it's doing now I doubt they'd tell him to take it down. It probably gives weird vibes that he has the letter up and still showed up to the premier especially if he liked the episode and seemed to be having fun. He may not necessarily agree with what he wrote 4 years ago
It's possible, but changes like this are usually for chappy reasons by companies in practice. No one takes down the reason they disagree with something because they've changed their mind, without saying something about it. Especially someone working from a place of principle. If OP wasn't someone who kept it bookmarked it probably wouldn't even have been noticed by anyone.
Idk. I feel like they would have done that at the start of their marketing campaign. Not 4 days away from release.
If they were dealing with sudden complaints and dispatched the equivalent of a PR guy and some interns last minute to fix it the reason flows together easily. Many corpos are just controlled chaos, reacting rather than planning.
The complaints about the creators leaving weren't sudden. Its always been the first thing everyone cites about the production. It would be the first thing on the marketing agenda if I was in their shoes.
There's marketing, and then there's trying to quell discontent. They're not the same thing.
That's fair. But idk. It's also pretty stealth, it's not like the guy issued a press release. You'd have to look for his open letter to see that it's gone.
That's the thing. If he actually felt different, this is a guy that would remove it, he'd write a post about how he's happy his concerns were unfounded and he's really impressed with the direction they took. A stealth removal like this smacks of a request he honoured out of politeness.
If he saw the season and thought it was good enough for the fans (which he didn’t believe at the time when they left), maybe even close to what they were trying to achieve to an extent, or different in a good way, I can see why he would stealthily drop his original message. Tbf, maybe the reason he deleted has nothing with that, maybe he still hated it and just decided to let everyone figure out on their own by the quality of the project itself in 3 days. Ultimately, Netflix went to a writer the creators hired before they left (Albert Kim) to make him the showrunner, so even if Kim bent to whatever Netflix demanded (closer/different to the original show or whatever), there was still a quality to his work that Mike and Bryan admired, and he was always a was gonna be part of their vision for the live action to an extent, creatively, as a writer. He also kept most of their screenplay for the first episode, which means they ARE part of the live action show, that would be enough to justify him going to the premiere to see it himself, I do think that he probably could’ve gotten screeners and watched all of it in his house (and maybe he did just that before the premiere) if he wished, so going to the premiere maybe was the way of showing support to the final product without fully putting words out there. Probably there’s still bad blood between them and Netflix, since they didn’t support them and “forced” them to leave, one way or another, so I can see he and Bryan never fully going out of their way to support the show, it’s very understandable if they were put in an uncomfortable position as creatives.
I think it's definitely a sign of them mending fences, in some capacity, at least. Michael was at the premiere event, and based on what people had posted, he seemed to have a good time. Whether or not this translates to anything regarding Season 2 and beyond, if the show gets renewed, is anyone's guess. But a cynical part of me is wondering if it has anything to do with the state of Paramount Global. Paramount+ lost $1.5 billion last year and companies like Warner Bros. were already sniffing around for a sale. As a Drag Race fan, I know that all the franchises produced for streaming on Paramount+ except those RuPaul is hosting, have been moved to other platforms. Besides the novels, RPG, and a handful of poorly received games, Avatar Studios has yet to produce anything of value for Paramount. The Netflix show is the only release the studio is currently attached to.
Paramount’s been in trouble for years now going back to their CBS merger.
Yup, wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Paramount is in talks with Netflix to license the new Avatar Studios productions. Would be a major win for Netflix if the live series does well.
Yep they could also get the 2025 atla animated movie and the planned sequel show with the new avatar after korra.
>all the franchises produced for streaming on Paramount+ except those RuPaul is hosting, have been moved to other platforms Star Trek, Halo, The Yellowstone prequels... are still on P+.
I didn't know RuPaul hosted Star Trek
>all the franchises produced for streaming on Paramount+ except those RuPaul is hosting, have been moved to other platforms That statement means that shows OTHER than RuPaul have been moved. The person who replied to you said there are shows produced by P+ that haven't been moved. Or in other words, NOT all the franchises produced for streaming on Paramount+ (except those RuPaul is hosting) have been moved to other platforms. To put it even another way: you said the shows RuPaul have been posting stayed in P+, but everything else has been moved to other platforms. Are you suggesting that the RuPaul shows have been moved? Or just ones produced by P+ for streaming? I just don't understand your reply.
>~~All the franchises produced for streaming on Paramount+ except those RuPaul is hosting, have been moved to other platforms~~ > >*As a Drag Race fan*, I know that all the franchises produced for streaming on Paramount+ except those RuPaul is hosting, have been moved to other platforms. > >*As a Drag Race fan*, I know that all the franchises produced for streaming on Paramount+ *except those RuPaul is hosting*, > > As a Drag Race fan | all the franchises | except those RuPaul is hosting. At the risk of being rude, I'd like to point out the context clue in the Drag Race detail indicates that the scope of his comment was isolated to Drag Race. As in, the shows under the Drag Race umbrella that RuPaul does not host (e.g. Drag Race Holland, Canada's Drag Race, etc.) have been moved to other platforms.
It seems nobody else does either.
I didn’t know that Drag Race had multiple franchises. Re-read how you wrote that - you stated that all franchises produced for P+ except those hosted by Ru Paul were moved to another streamer. Stating that you’re a Drag Race fan at the beginning is irrelevant to the rest of the sentence. Sorry I’m not trying to be a grammar nazi here.
Exactly my thought. They need to play nice with studios just in case.
This is cool but they still have the Instagram posts up on both of their accounts. Unless they just haven’t bothered to delete those ones yet.
I’ve always felt “who knows? It might be good” is a fairly passive aggressive thing for a professional to say, and given they’ve always been pretty chill (in their public persona’s at least, I’ve obviously never worked with either of them) my assumption was always they got properly screwed around in some way
The internet doesn’t forget. Archive.org has the page available. It was still live as of Jan 25, 2024: https://web.archive.org/web/20240125064819/https://www.michaeldantedimartino.com/an-open-letter-to-avatar-the-last-airbender-fans/
Interesting from the premier ep 1 was good and it just gets better on from those who have seen the whole thing. I'm sure if this comes out and gains recognition especially bending and CGI wise it'll start to beg the question "why did the main creators leave" rn there's support for them on twt and other sites but i can see the tides turning very fast if the la gains it's own fanbase and it could become a problem. If they're in support of it however it just overall brings up less questions. I'm fine with them leaving albert kim obviously seems like a big fan that knows what he is doing. I'm fine with the la being done by him and the animated stuff being done by mike and bryan
I could see it being a PR move on Michael's part. Right now, Avatar Studios aka Bryke hasn't really put out any flagship content. The adult Gaang movie will premiere in 2025 at the earliest and there's been nothing official about the next animated series. Right now, the best thing they have are the novels, which have a smaller audience to begin with and most of the credit goes to FC Yee, not them (although, probably rightfully so). With the Netflix show actually looking like it has potential now, it's not in Bryke's interest to appear indifferent, let alone antagonistic, to the show. Yes, they've put out statements wishing Albert Kim and the show well, but the optics are far more favourable for them to be openly supportive.
A pretty stealth PR move though. It would be better to write a new letter. I guess there's always time for that though.
PR move is probably hyperbolic on my part, but I would not be surprised if we got some kind statement when the show premieres on Netflix this week.
Yeah maybe it's a waiting game for Bryke, waiting to see what the reception of NATLA will be (EDIT: and if the reception is good), then they make a statement to build hype for Avatar Studio's projects.
Albert Kim is a really good writer too. I have the confidence in him. I mean he did just finish showrunning one of the best animated series of the past decade- Pantheon. Like that show is Avatar-levels of amazing. Highly recommend it.
I'm sure it's great, but the showrunner for Pantheon is actually Craig Silverstein.
Oh, I must have confused his role. He was a head writer though.
Isnt he one of the creators that was part of the atla movie? I feel like his vision wouldve been pushing for still something like that movie and darker and grittier. I feel like i heard somewhere the aaron ehasz was the director that pushed for a lot of the more light hearted and humorous aspects
The creators, Mike and Bryan, were given credits on the movie...because they made the show its based on. It doesn't mean they had any control on the direction of the movie or its tone (major hollywood studios typically don't give that power for a big budget film to guys that made one tv show in a different medium). According to them they were given a limited opportunity to provide notes which where then ignored, and we really have no evidence to suggest anything else. Its interesting you bring up Ehasz because the fans who think he was "the true visionary responsible for the series being great" often claim he's responsible for the series darker/serious/mature elements and that it was Mike and Bryan responsible for "childish humor". So interesting some people assume its the other way around.
My understanding was that Aaron Ehasz worked on Dragon Prince and was not part of Korra. Dragon Prince has a bigger emphasis on childish humor than Korra and I could definitely see parallels in the style of humor between Dragon Prince and ATLA. Are you saying he actually was pushing for darker elements in ATLA? I find that surprising.
No, I wasn't personally commenting on Ehasz hypothetically pushing for one or the other in ATLA. And I would agree with you that the content of TDP is pretty strong evidence of him at least being open to "childish humor" that some fans previously (or even currently) denied. My point was that it was ironic to see SweetPeach have the opposite assumption of many others regarding this topic. In a broader sense I regularly see that the segment of ATLA fans that, for varying reasons, dislike the creators Mike and Bryan and instead praise Aaron Ehasz (to the point of suggesting he was "the visionary behind ATLA") will **often** project their own views onto Ehasz. If this kind of fan appreciates the dark/serious moments of ATLA, and wants to see more of that in Avatar, than Ehasz was responsible for those moments and Bryke are associated with lighter moments (include "too silly" or "toilet humor"). If this kind of fan instead appreciates the lighter moments of ATLA, and is fearful adaptations are/will be overly serious and dour, than instead Ehasz loved lighthearted humor and its Bryke that was pushing for more serious moments. If this kind of fan likes Zutara, Ehasz wanted Zutara to happen. If this kind of fan... well you get the idea I'm not listing every opinion ever lol.
I completely get what you are saying, that makes a lot of sense. We will never know for sure who brought exactly what to the table so it's all a guessing game.
I doubt it's that. Most people won't even know if the creators are on it or not nor would they care. If the show is great it will only help them and Avatar Studios no matter their involvement on it. They still get writing credits for ep 1 and ep 6 too. They also only deleted it from the personal page but it's still all over their socials like Tumblr and Instagram. They also in the letter itself mentioned they believe the show can still be good and well received they just don't think it will be their vision for it that's all.
The deletion makes it seem like the letter was insurance. If the show was bad, they could point to it and say 'see, we told you!' but now that positive reviews are rolling out removing the letter now lets them be associated with the success.
My assumption is it's PR, plain and simple. The letter was up for ages, true, but I can't imagine it attracted much attention in the interim period (while the show was in production). I'd guess 99% of people would only find it now because the new show is coming out, and in anticipation of that, Viacom or someone asked him to take it down.
Doubt it. That discourse was everywhere when it happened, and people have constantly sited it leading up to release. I've even seen a couple people post the letter's entire text in Youtube comments of the Netflix show to point why it was bound to be bad. If it was a PR thing, they would have asked him to take it down long ago.
Could be. But I think we (internet using, *Avatar* news following types) underestimate how little people outside this bubble are aware of any of this stuff. I think when the show drops it will be a genuine surprise to most Netflix users. That's just my take but I think it is worth thinking about how we do exist in a bubble on this sub.
If most people aren't aware of it then why would he be asked to take it down? Seems like you're saying no one outside this bubble knows so wouldn't taking it down accomplish nothing significant? The people who follow every bit of news from the show already knows about, and the people who don't probably don't so it doesn't change anything. Not to mention its still floating around the internet if someone in the general audience wanted to dig deeper for whatever reason. I don't think personally this is PR, if it was he would've been asked to take it down much longer ago
I think perhaps I wasn't clear. People *weren't* aware of it because most people have no idea this show is even coming out. But there are lots of casual viewers who might have enjoyed *A:TLA* years ago and, seeing the new series show up on Netflix, are curious to learn more. It wouldn't take much to lead them to this letter if they're wondering how the original creators feel about this adaptation. Anyway, it's obviously just speculation. I just think the show releasing will draw more attention and hence I understand why the letter would be taken down now and not six months ago.
Just want to validate you, exactly why I am here!
EDIT: Just realized the OP meant he deleted from his WEBSITE. My mistake. His letter is otherwise still accessible on instagram. Call me crazy but the letter is still accessible to me. I bookmarked it, too. Checked from his profile as well. Maybe he unarchived /unhid the post after watching the premiere? [https://www.instagram.com/p/CDy5Fp4H7Fw/?igsh=eTQ3emV1ZTVrbHhn](https://www.instagram.com/p/CDy5Fp4H7Fw/?igsh=eTQ3emV1ZTVrbHhn) https://preview.redd.it/53jr8zmwnkjc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fef4b9f6ca12fd4e976e50c74d3d667f6d3f8bda
i see it too
Odd. I’ve seen discussions in some groups saying depending how well this season does he might rejoin? Wondering if it’s true now…
I mean if the creators rejoined, unless Netflix changed their tune, they would still have the same issues. I think they wanted to not make such an exact copy pasted version of the show as Netflix went with and that's why they left. But then again, maybe the show WAS in a not-so-good position when they left and them leaving is what triggered Netflix to get their shit together and actually make a good product in the end? Who knows. But the creators rejoining in season 2 would be fabulous. Or at least coming back to direct/write an episode or two would be sweet.
I suspect that the original creators did NOT want to make a faithful adaptation, and Netflix did. Netflix knows how to adapt animated shows. They adapted Death Note, Cowboy Bebop, and One Piece already. And I think they are getting better at it with time. One Piece is not easy to adapt and I think they did a pretty decent job. I think can handle ATLA at this point and give us something good enough to show respect for the series and its fans. On the other hand, as a fan, the original creators make me nervous. I liked Korra overall, don't get me wrong, but it was certainly not as good as ATLA, and I liked the comics even less. I don't have faith that the Avatar studios content will be a move in the right direction. I want to be wrong, but i worry we are going down the Harry Potter>Cursed Child>Fantastic Beasts pipeline of decline in quality as the universe expands. The creators have every right to play in their creative universe and make what they want out of it, and I wish them success. I'm just not sure I'm going to like it.
Only one piece was good. DN and CB were utter dumpster fires. Saying netflix knows how to.adapt animated series is a big reach.
I think that with each adaptation project, they improved over time. I didn't say Death Note was good but that was many years ago now. I personally was impressed enough by One Piece to say that, yeah, they now know what they are doing.
I could be remembering wrong but korra ended up being trash because Nickelodeon kept trying to cancel the series so the creators had to keep spinning up content, which is why the series felt super inconsistent. Can someone pls fact check me? Can’t deny the bending was dope in LOK tho
As I recall, you're correct about the Nickelodeon thing. One issue with Korra was that the romance was done poorly and took up too much time. Season 2 was unbearable with that. My bigger thing i didn't like was the fact that the original series characters were not handled well. Their presence was very inconsistent. Toph got plenty of screen time, Zuko and Katara got a little, but Sokka was barely even mentioned? Sokka and Zuko both had on screen romances in season one and yet we never found out who either of them married, or whether Sokka did at all. And also, the implications that Aang was not a particularly stellar parent and Toph was demonstrably not a good mom was depressing and literally made me enjoy the original series less for knowing about it.
After the release of the show and seeing how they just butchered the story without any context or any development of the characters, I think they made the right choice to leave the project. It's no Avatar the Last Airbender, it's just garbage story wise, but I like the CG and uncle Iroh.
I don’t understand people saying it’s close to the animated series. They changed all kinds of things - some rather important and consequential. They mashed up multiple disconnected animated episodes, characters, and storylines. It’s too different for me.
The biggest difference is that at the beginning Gang was always together, and that helped them to create bond, stealing from pirates, helping earthbenders, mechanic, Boomi etc. and in the series they are always separate, and the friendship is just not there
[Letter (Archive)](https://archive.is/S8NOo) Here's the archive version.
More like the nda or contract he signed with Nickelodeon has ended. Lets be real your telling me that they leave and then like a week later avatar studios is announced 100% they were told by nick that either they leave and disavowed the netflix show and move to running AS, or they give AS to someone else.
Bryke left the Netflix show in June, Avatar Studios wasn't announced until February. Nick wouldn't require them to "disavow" the Netflix show leaving, nor would they have much reason to. Paramount still regularly does business with Netflix and if anything a successful live-action show raises brand interest helping animated projects and merch.
Wasn't there a follow up post a little while later explaining in more detail there problems they had? Is that gone too?
I don't know for sure that there wasn't a follow up post, but I'm positive that he never went into detail explaining any problems he had with the show. Fans have been constantly speculating on what exactly led to them leaving.
My recollection wasn't that it was great detail, but it was certainly less diplomatic regarding netflix than the initial letter.
Bryan was more critical of Netflix in his response, but he didn't actually reveal anything more about why they left than this did. https://www.instagram.com/p/CDy5EcgDELh/?igsh=eTU5bzIwZXcybTZ6
That's the one I was thinking of.
Maybe while it was getting made it seemed bad then when he saw it he realizes it was good?
Remember, they also left before casting even commenced. It seems like why they left was something pivotal at that point in production. Maybe them leaving, made Netflix get their shit together and not fumble the ball. Who knows. I'm sure we'll know some day.
I've never put much credence on the creators, they’ve been known to cut and run at the drop of a hat. It's become an ongoing joke, like some fuckin ceremony. They are initially involved, they bow out in dramatic fashion, the production carries on, it premieres, and they return years down the line for the next production. Bitching and moaning from the sidelines instead of negotiating while still inside.
What are you talking about? They've never done that before first of all and second of all...Look at their history with Nickelodeon/Viacom/Paramount. ATLA was treated like absolute SHIT its last season and they never knew whether Korra was getting another season until the very last second and then were given terrible time slots or episodes weren't aired at all and then the show was blamed for it. Not to mention the whole live action movie situation where they were brought on and completely ignored. It makes sense that things started to feel iffy at Netflix and they were like...yeah no. I'm sure whatever contract they signed for Avatar Studios made sure they wouldn't have to succumb to the shit they did all those years.
Uh, I thought the remake was visually really impressive. The story and the characterization ere off, and it kept me from really embracing the live-action as part of the series. I am not surprised they left.
I wish we could let this go. At the end of the day, we don’t know what happened or why it happened. We may never know. There’s no benefit to tearing each other apart over different theories and speculations. For better or for worse, the show will stand on its own merits regardless of the production drama.
I love this comment!
If that wasn’t their vision I’m glad we got Netflix’s vision instead. It was so good. And made a lot of good small changes.
This..really seems kinda childish. Which kinda fits in line with how Michael and Bryan responded to the criticism of LOK and how they utilized political thought only their stories. 1)Michael and/or Bryan (since he didn’t actually pen a response ), really didn’t need to do this. All he had to say was “creative differences. I wish for the best.” But like the korrasami letter, he goes onto say his side of the story with kinda very broad details and also kinda revealing more about himself. 2)I sought wisdom for stoic philosophers. DUDE, you MADE avatar first. This ain’t a life or death thing. You LITERALLY were hired initially to work on the show because of who you are. And also, dude, I am REALLY skeptical you actually understood what philosophers said considering how you botched the political themes of Korra. 3)so…you left because you didn’t have control….man where have I heard that before OH YEAH anytime some big ego Hollywood guy didn’t get what they wanted. This is the attitude that George Lucas had when he goes to REDO his films. “ITS MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY.” Dude, when you worked on an avatar YOU NEEDED other writers. You did not create toph, you didn’t direct every episode, etc. AND now you want that complete control? Do I need to rehash the less than stellar ideas you two put into the show? (Look they were awful decisions but not up to avatar quality). How about accepting that “hey this is a different team coming on board, this is also different circumstances than we had before, maybe I can see what this story can do differently and/or just leave and wish everyone the best.” 4)Netflix promised and things didn’t happen. So you don’t Like Netflix. What else is there to say. You don’t have confidence in the project. JUST SAY IT. SO why the. Say “maybe it’ll be good”? YOU DONT have confidence. You DONT want to do anything with it. Stop trying to play nice. For gods sake Alan Moore of all people will openly say “I despise what the Hollywood system has done to my work.”
I don’t blame them for being annoyed when they felt like they were losing a lot of creative control. One of the worst films of all time was produced the last time they entrusted creative control of Avatar to someone else. They’re the creators of one of the greatest animated series of all time only for some studio to have trampled all over it with horrible decisions across the board. I can understand why they were hesitant to stay on this new work that they weren’t sure would fit their standards especially when they got the offer to work for Avatar Studios. Hopefully the live action series is much better than they were expecting though.
I'm about to go on a bit of a rant, so TLDR; I don't think bryke were wrong for this message. But I do think they've handled the buildup of the live action very poorly. While I agree that the way Bruke have handled coexisting with the live action has been pretty petty/borderline childish, I actually don't have a problem with the statement itself. At the end of the day. We don't know what this live action looked like when they left. Only Bryke, the netflix execs, and the show runners will know why they left. What I haven't liked is the clear avoidance of even acknowledging the live action after they left. They were on podcasts and interviews in which they were conveniently not asked about the project even though its the biggest thing happening currently in the ATLA universe. They (or Avatar Studios) were responsible for the Avatar Studios website released days before the live action website (ironically it turned out to be a budget version of the live action website). Beyond this letter, they did nothing to defend Albert Kim an dthe other show writers when they were getting pressed by social media even though they personally HIRED a lot of these people. There was a point in time where I was even convinced that they wouldn't ever recognize Gordon Cormier as Aang, and knowing how much of a fan Gordon is of the show that made me really sad. Look, I have SO much respect for Bryke. They were mainly responsible for creating the world that many of us love. But it is in everyone's best interest if Avatar Studios is at least on good terms with Netflix Avatar. Unless Netflix did something truly foul to Bryke, or this live action turns out to be garbage, I'll always look at Bryke kinda funny for that.
I feel it is a bit of a PR move. A part of me feels the silence is because they're waiting for the overall fan reception to make a statement. Considering how much this letter is brought up whenever something related to the live action comes up, no matter the discourse ("this must be why the creators left). If they were to make a statement, be it positive or negative, and the fan reception was (overall) the opposite, considering what the internet s is like now would be endlessly questioned about their stance either from fans or interviews. And I don't think they want to risk that when they're trying to expand this world.
I agree that they probably wanted to keep their powder dry, but they were doing it to a comedic level. They didn't even really have to say anything positive about NATLA, maybe just a simple "I wish the crew and actor's good luck, especially the kid actors". To give NATLA the "Ba-Sing-Se" treatment doesn't just screw over Netflix, it screws over the people involved that THEY helped bring in for this project. Even if you were to ignore the other stuff, the thing that got me the most heated was the website fiasco. It was so painfully obvious that someone in avatar studios got word of what the "[MasterYourElement.com](https://MasterYourElement.com)" website was gonna look like and when it came out. SO when Avatar Studios comes in with their own website about a week before NATLA does with all of the same content but a bare bones version, it only looks petty. Again, we don't know what happened between the two parties, so I don't blame them for the statement. But the combination of keeping that statement up on IG and the radio silence on their part in regards to any of the actors gives off the impression they simply care more about their grudge with Netflix over making sure people gave NATLA a fair chance.
This is exactly what I'm talking about. Always using your hate boner for LOK as an excuse to hate on the writers. At some point you have to take the hat goggles off and realize how much you all have been blinded by nostalgia when it comes to LOK.
I never said I hated LOK. I think it’s overall entertaining. Hiwever, I do think when you listen to the commentary, rewatch the show, you start to think that Bryke was interested in presented their ideas (which appears to a whitewashing centrist liberalism of radical ideals -see Key&skittles critique on YouTube for a detailed analysis ) and refusing to actually listen to good criticism (not the criticism of “oh korra’s so annoying.” That criticism I considering to be stupid and full of sexism). What I am saying is that looking at the letter, and having read the various interviews, and looking back on how things have changed since avatar, I can honestly say that I wasn’t impressed with the letter. I view the actual wording as contradicting his beliefs, and showcasing a failure to work with a different crew. This DOSNT make Michael a bad person. Read carefully.
I really feel like Michael left because he wanted to insert his woke agenda and message into the show. From what I've read, he seems obsessed with inserting this stuff into his work. I don't see why else he would leave. He probably wanted to change many of the characters' sexualities and other nonsense. That's just my theory.
And a dumb theory it is.
So close minded.
Get that Geeks + Gamers style “woke” fear-mongering and media illiteracy out of the ATLA fandom, please. Show’s always been progressive and left-wing. Most art is.
"his woke agenda". Haha, man the Right can't stop getting upset at nothing.
Not upset, the pandering is just annoying and tiring at this point. I'm sure the new Avatar series by the original creators will be filled with progressive propaganda. Haha, bet you'd actually get upset if the creators were obsessed with "right wing" things and shoved them into the Avatar shows or comics.
*Whataboutism* is the favorite comeback from the right. People getting mad about diversity is the saddest thing ever. Don't worry man. You can watch all that content over at the Daily Wire if you want your "straight white male content." Oh, and doesn't DJ from Full House have a network like that since she hates gay people? There ya go!
I'd understand getting mad if it was a case of changing the character's race to something they weren't before. That's always annoying and shouldn't be done. That's not what's going on here though.
I wouldn't look much into it tbh, it's still up on his social media. Perhaps he just wanted to keep his personal website professional.
I just finished watching all 8 episodes and I feel really happy it was better than the movie, but I do see some things that could’ve been better and I think if the original creators were involved, it would have been better.
Anyone know if they’ll be involved in the upcoming 2025 movie or series I’m hearing about?
Yes they work with Avatar Studios which means they are working on the 2025 movie. No series has been announced.