Kiawentiio is teasing the live-action Netflix adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender and is revealing some key changes to Sokka.
When adapting the animated series into live-action, the writers chose to remove the “sexist” elements of the character portrayed by Ian Ousley.
“There’s more weight with realism in every way,” Ousley said in an interview with EW about the remake, with co-star Kiawentiio chiming in and adding, “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.”
Ousley continued, “Yeah, totally. There are things that were redirected just because it might play a little differently [in live action].”
The publication noted that there are Reddit threads that are dedicated to pointing out Sokka’s sexist remarks with the character saying things like, “Girls are better at fixing pants than guys, and guys are better at hunting and fighting.”
Avatar: The Last Airbender drops on Netflix on Feb. 22 with Kiawentiio in the role of Katara, Ousley as Sokka, Dallas Liu as Prince Zuko and Gordon Cormier as Aang.
The series is an adaptation of the Nickelodeon animated series of the same name. Albert Kim serves as showrunner, executive producer, and writer. Alongside Kim, Rideback’s Dan Lin and Lindsey Liberatore serve as executive producers, as does Michael Goi. Goi, Roseanne Liang (also a co-executive producer), Jabbar Raisani, and Jet Wilkinson direct.
