Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender has a scene too brutal for the cartoon

Avatar: The Last Airbender showrunner Albert Kim just confirmed the Netflix series includes a violent scene glossed over in the original cartoon.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is the second live-action adaptation of Nickelodeon’s acclaimed animated series of the same name. The first was M. Night Shyamalan’s 2010 movie, The Last Airbender, which was a critical and commercial flop.

Kim and his team will be hoping their show avoids its big screen counterpart’s fate, and the fanbase’s largely positive reaction to the Avatar: The Last Airbender trailers suggest they’ve succeeded.

That said, some aspects of Kim’s take on the property have already met with disapproval. Notably, reports that supporting character Sokka’s (Ian Ousley) sexism will be toned down in the Netflix series prompted backlash from fans.

Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender has a scene too brutal for the cartoon

So it remains to be seen how Avatar: The Last Airbender devotees will respond to what will likely be the Netflix show’s most controversial scene: the Air Nomad genocide.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kim confirmed that this atrocity – largely unseen in the cartoon – will be depicted on-screen in the live-action series. He added that the devastating scene worked within the context of the remake, as it’s targeted at a slightly older audience.

“[The original show’s] a cartoon, it’s meant for kids,” Kim explained. “But I felt it was important that we see the event that creates the story of Avatar. The famous line is, ‘Everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.’ I wanted to see that.”

The showrunner also insisted that the Netflix version of Avatar: The Last Airbender dramatizing the Air Nomads’ demise doesn’t mean the show is darker than its animated forerunner. Specifically, he pointed to Seasons 2 and 3 of the original series as evidence that the franchise was fairly mature to begin with.

“For fans of the second and third season, I think it’s all in line with what they saw there,” Kim said.

Avatar: The Last Airbender star discusses “sick” genocide scene

Kim isn’t the only member of the Avatar: The Last Airbender cast and crew on the record regarding the Air Nomad genocide scene. In the same EW article, star Gordon Cormier, who portrays protagonist Aang, talked up the visual spectacle of the harrowing set piece.

“I think the Airbender genocide is really cool… Well, no! No! Not like that,” Cormier said. “I mean, yeah, my whole family’s dead, of course. It’s not a good thing, but watching it is going to be sick!”