Amph ATLA and The Legend of Korra (ATLA live action remake coming Feb 2024)

Yeah take the one show people hold up as an unusual exception regarding child actors as evidence child actors couldn't possibly be an issue.

 

Above poster. Are you on 17th Shard?

I’m excited by this news.

 

*ahem* Some more news... the next Korra comic trilogy! Including @Jabba-wocky 's favorite person:

Spoiler: more of the sneak preview

https://ew.com/books/2018/10/01/exclusive-legend-of-korra-comic-preview/amp/

 

If there is any justice in this world she will rule the Earth Kingdom again by the end of this comic.

And then I will buy and frame that issue.

 

https://www.newsarama.com/45116-leg...olitical-roots-with-the-return-of-kuvira.html


LEGEND OF KORRA: RUINS OF THE EMPIRE Embraces Political Roots With the Return of KUVIRA

A new arc of Dark Horse’s Legend of Korra graphic novels from series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko is on the horizon – one that returns Korra’s big bad Kuvira to the story, and offers her a shot at redemption.

With the new arc, which kicks off with May 21’s Ruins of the Empire, artist Michelle Wong joins the Korra creative team to explore the situation in the Earth Empire as it transitions from monarchy to democracy.

Newsarama had a chance to talk to Michael Dante DiMartino and Michelle Wong about what fans can expect from the upcoming graphic novel, including the series politics, the return of Kuvira, and the development of Korrasami.

Newsarama: Michael, What can you tease about this upcoming arc that kicks off in The Legend of Korra: Ruins of the Empire?

Michael Dante DiMartino:At the end of the series, King Wu talks about abdicating his throne and turning the Earth Kingdom democratic. I started wondering what that would look like in real life. It's one thing to have a noble ideal of democracy, but the Earth Kingdom's history is entrenched in tradition, bureaucracy, and monarchies, so the challenges to making free elections a reality would be enormous. In the real world, people aren't always keen on upending the status quo, so it seemed believable, and quite relevant to our times, to tell a story that dealt with an old regime refusing to yield to progressive politics. That conflict forms the spine of the story through the three-volume arc.



Credit: Dark Horse
We also get to see Zhu Li in action as the president and Bolin performing a new job. We'll also return to some familiar locations from the series and revisit some old friends.

Nrama: Michelle, how did your collaboration with Bryan and Michael come about?

Michelle Wong: You know what, I actually never asked about the specifics behind how I was chosen for this job! I just received an email from Dark Horse one day asking whether I was interested in drawing the Korra comics, which, yes of course, sign me the hell up. Dave Marshall, the editor who contacted me at the time, mentioned that the team at Nickelodeon were fans of my work -- which was flattering and mildly terrifying at the same time. I did some style tests, they liked it, and now here I am. It’s been a great honor and a great learning experience.

Nrama: How did you get into the Avatar franchise?

Wong: Toph was the character who pulled me into the original series -- I remember seeing her character design and thinking, wow she looks awesome, I have to see where she’s from. I loved her story and her attitude. She remained my favorite in ATLA, and I’m really happy I get to draw her in Ruins too.

Nrama: Do you have a favorite character from Avatar/Korra that you like to draw?

Wong: Toph! But also Asami, Wu, Kuvira -- I’m cheating and just listing a bunch of characters but it’s difficult to choose. Asami is beautiful, who wouldn’t like drawing her? And Wu is fun because he can be so ridiculous.

Nrama: What’s your favorite style of bending?

Wong: Waterbending. I’m completely biased about this, having taken those online quizzes in the past that told me I was a waterbender. But I also just think it’s got the most interesting range of sub-skills, and I love how graceful it is.


Credit: Dark Horse
Nrama: What can you tell us about Korra and Asami’s dynamic this arc?

DiMartino: They are an established couple, who would do anything for each other. But when Korra proposes working with Kuvira (who killed Asami's father), it definitely creates some strains in their relationship. They aren't always on the same page when it comes to how to approach the conflicts in the main story, but they admire and respect each other so much that they can work through those disagreements. In the later volumes, outside forces end up putting unexpected pressure on their bond.

Nrama: Korrasami has been such a huge part of these graphic novels. How do you approach drawing their relationship?

Wong: At this point in the graphic novels, Korra and Asami are a solid couple -- they’ve been together for a bit, and were friends for years before that, made their love confessions in Turf Wars -- so a lot of their interactions in Ruins just show how comfortable they are with each other. I love being able to depict the quieter moments between them. Whenever there is a group scene, I try to draw them together. I know it will make the fans happy, and I also just want to show that even if they’re at a point where they need to work through some conflict, they still naturally gravitate towards each other.

Nrama: What made you want to bring back Kuvira for this storyline?

DiMartino: Kuvira was one of my favorite antagonists from Legend of Korra. I wanted to explore whether or not someone with her past, who had done a lot of terrible things, could be redeemed. I thought it would be interesting to see Kuvira stand trial for her war crimes and join forces with Team Avatar to combat a group of Earth Empire loyalists who try to reassert their power. And although Kuvira had surrendered at the end of the animated series, she had caused a lot of mayhem, both in the world and with her adoptive family, the Beifongs. I knew there was a lot of great character moments to be mined between Kuvira and Su, as well as the other Beifongs, and see if a family could heal after such a terrible rift.


Credit: Dark Horse
Nrama: What are you most looking forward for fans to see with your artwork?

Wong: There are some brief flashbacks that show Kuvira’s backstory, and I get to draw her being an absolute terror of a child. Very, very excited to share that.

Nrama: Kuvira is damaged after her battle with Korra. What went into drawing this broken down version of her character?

Wong: I always liked the moments in Book 4 where her usually put-together appearance came loose after a fight. She was unafraid to get down and dirty, and to be ruthless to her enemies. At the start of Ruins she no longer has her carefully maintained dignity and control, and I tried to focus on this more feral part of Kuvira that I imagine was always lying under the surface.

Nrama: Are there any new character designs you were able to introduce? Any favorites?

Wong: Yes! Some villains, some side characters. A lot of the cast are already established, this series being quite closely tied to Book 4. The new villain, Commander Guan, was not designed by me, but he’s got a bunch of smug villain moments that have been very fun to draw.

 

Kuvira's attitude with everyone embodied my attitude toward the show. I was so done with this show constantly being a let down. I did love Amon and Tarrlok though. They needed more time.
Also, Mike and Brian doing an unneeded live action version of Last Airbender is so misguided. You can't improve perfection. I don't think I can even imagine those characters as live action. Also, it was obvious with Korra that they alone weren't responsible on how good atla was. I have no faith in them without full writing team for the show being reunited.

 

Everytime this thread gets upped without any ATLA Netflix news a cabbage cart gets destroyed.

 

Ok, part 1 has certainly captured my interest. This storyline is very intriguing...


Spoilers:

-Kuvira is on trial
-Zhu Li Moon is now President of the United Republic
-the first election is a week away in one Earth Kingdom state, and once it goes well the other states will follow over the next year (it's also Toph's homestate)
-Commander Guan is the leader of Earth Empire holdouts, who along with one scientist, has been brainwashing soldiers and more
-when Team Avatar gets word that Commander Guan is going to interfere with the election, Korra convinces them to bring Kuvira to help him stand down and help her redeem herself
-flashbacks to Kuvira's childhood
-the 2 candidates in the race so far are elderly, conforming, bureaucratic twins who don't represent change or even a difference
-Commander Guan shows up with his army at the city hall
-Kuvira argues quite well and forcefully with Guan, but he won't back down, she loses her temper and begins Force-choking him so he'll surrender to Korra (with the metal collar), before Asami uses some Force-lightning (I mean activates a shock in her suit) so Kuvira passes out and it doesn't erupt in violence
-the twist: Guan declares himself as a candidate, and to inspire other Earth Empire loyalists to run for election in other states, so the Earth Empire can legitimately and democratically come back
-Commander Guan is shown at the end to be brainwashing people to act as campaigners for him in the election
-Korra decides to ask Toph to become a candidate

 

Show me the Kuvira parts.

 

I do hope that they go a bit darker than the source material. It’s a war and I think showing some of the horrors of it will be warranted. Also it wouldn’t be too bad to kill off some characters, not necessarily anyone in the core cast, but a few more of the secondary characters wouldn’t hurt. Like in the final battle they should have some members of the Order of the White Lotus fall. I do hope that they have a scene between Ozai and Iroh. It was unfortunate that they never once speak to one another in the entire series. Maybe they could have Ozai face off against the White Lotus in Ba Sing Se, up the stakes a bit and show off why only the Avatar can stand a chance against him.

 

Mostly, Kuvira convinces Korra to take her along and she tries to reason with Guan. He no longer recognizes her rule, nor do the others under his command and that triggers her attack against him. When Korra orders her to stand down, she doesn't so Asami zaps her. She's then imprisoned.

So, not sure how much you will enjoy the treatment of Kuvira. She seems like she's looking for some type of redemption, but it is unclear exactly for what purpose. Mostly, it seems like she wants the Earth Kingdom to grow and evolve. Afterall, part of her problem was that idiot Prince Wu who is now resigning and trying to let democracy work. Wu is adamant about having the elections happen hence his begging Team Korra to go to the polls to protect them from Guan.

 

A just government would have appointed Kuvira to lead it already.

 

The world building isn’t done well in regards to implementing democracy. You can’t go from leaders based on lineage/conquest to then everyone being allowed to vote overnight. Their world never had the concept before, to then put it in was a bit rushed to say the least.

 

That’s a dumb plan yes, but the reality is that countries do that all time.

 

I was referring to the United Republic of Nations (though basically just Republic City is ever shown) suddenly doing away with the council that was appointed by the monarchs of the other nations and going directly to democracy. Korra said it took time to implement, but in the show it only took them six months. It’s unrealistic to go from monarchs appointing leaders to everyone getting a vote within that time frame.

But that’s in a world that has had democracy for centuries, so they can take examples from other countries that have implemented it and those nations had to spend time working out all the kinks to what we see today. In their world they have never had democracy, so immediately having everyone be given the chance to elect their leaders isn’t too realistic. I could see them taking steps to get there, but they pretty much leapfrogged over that process.

 

So I've recently started watching The Legend of Korra. I've just finished the Civil War two-parter from Book 2 and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

One thing is confusing me though. I made the mistake of going on YouTube, looking for videos about the series (analysis and the like). I was quite surprised to see a lot of hostility towards the series. Does the show go off a cliff in terms of quality at some point? I'm aware of the ending, at least the romantic part, so did that trigger a bunch of right wing crybabies in the wider fandom?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

 

Where you are right now (first half of Book 2) is probably the lowest-rated part of the series. So if you like it, then I think you'll love the rest even more. And yes, the near-kiss at the end did trigger a lot of people, and was all that most people talked about afterward for a while, overshadowing almost everything else.

People just have very high expectations, their own fan theories, and tend to nitpick and blow things out of proportion.

I'd encourage you to check out Nostalgia Critic's old review of the series, and Hello Future Me's youtube channel. There's other good ones too (but most good ones have spoilers, so I'd finish the series first)



The vlogs covering LoK:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0AQIMR-tpolV6wvBpa079q0H1FHXU2UV

 

I’m lgbt and my issue with the two characters becoming an item is that they didn’t give them a decent relationship throughout the show. Season 3 had them becoming closer friends after them not really being close in the first two seasons. Season 4 should have continued that growth, but everyone spends years apart from one another and the titular character only writes ONE letter after years of ignoring her friends for years. Then they don’t reunite until the halfway point of the final season and then they don’t spend much time together. They shouldn’t have given scenes to the main character’s ex. Those scenes would have served as a better way to build the relationship between the main character and her future girlfriend.

 

I think it worked, many people were even speculating about it back in Book 3 and especially Book 4’s Korte Alone episode. It could have been more hinted at too, but I’m happy with what we got.