‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’: Aang or Korra? Netflix takes a stand for ‘gay’ superhero after viral debate
Netflix gave a sweet surprise to fans of the Nickelodeon animated series ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ when it dropped all three seasons on May 15. The series soon started trending on social media and became one of the most-watched series in no time. The beloved original series was aired between 2005 and 2008 with three seasons. Four years later, creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko dished out the “Korra” sequel series, named ‘The Legend of Korra’, which ran for four seasons from 2012 to 2014. While many viewers loved it back then, some felt the change in the storyline was uncalled for.
However, not all fans were particularly happy. In a discussion about its sequel series, a heated debate over Aang vs Korra was ignited on Twitter. It all started with a Twitter thread when a fan posted, "Imagine an alternate Universe where 4 seasons of this dropped instead of Korra. Yeah. I'd wanna live there."
No sooner did he post it, fans started comparing the two characters. "Aang had it easy compared to Korra. Aang had to deal with one threat and had little to no personal relationships with his own team to make things awkward. You love Aang for nostalgia and travel factor. Korra had to deal with real loss so many times as well as acceptance," one fan said and another posted, "All we need is a series based on what happens in between Avatar The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra."
One said, "Yes. An lroh prequel about the Order of the White Lotus." Another wrote, "Legend of Korra was Trash. They could explore the origins of the first Avatar Wan without her ass." One tweet went on to say, "Literally both were so good and led on different topics and it was so good to see a little more modern aspect in the universe. Aang dealt with genocide, war, loss, patriarchy, etc. Korra dealt with corruption, politics, LGBTQ+, oppression. Both were so good in their way."
Taking Korra's side, one fan said, "Y’all are all clearly biased and yes Avatar is classic and one of the best cartoons of our time. But don’t discredit The Legend of Korra. Korra as a character is more interesting as a whole and goes through a lot more emotionally and mentally. There are more hardships." Another posted, "Korra was just a big waste of time with zero character development." Looking at the unending argument on social media, Netflix decided to intervene. The official account of @NXOnNetflix account dubbed as “home of all things geek” tweeted to its fans, “Korra’s story was important. Aang’s story had been told.”
The debate continued. But fans soon calmed down. One said, "Without legend of Korra, we wouldn’t have been given these godlike villains to ever grace the avatar franchise. Ozai and Azula are great but let’s not pretend that they’re as good as these 4," and another posted, "I loved both, I can't understand why people didn't like Korra. I mean opinions for sure but to fully dislike it? Bruh."
Some even dissed her for being "gay" and "brown." One fan posted a snarky reply to Netflix, saying, "Korra’s story wasn’t important. The only reason you think that is because she’s gay and brown. Let us like our OG heroes." Netflix replied to the fan, saying, "both were important and essential to the avatar universe. No two avatars have the same perspective or growth." One fan concluded, "Legend Of Korra was never supposed to be a replica of the Last Airbender. It was its own self-contained story, & was just as solid as the original," and another agreed: "Thank you. I don’t get why people have to compare Aang and Korra. They both were great stories. But I feel like Korra had it the hardest. Just my opinion."
If you haven't watched yet, you can stream all three seasons of ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ now on Netflix.