Sokka from Nickelodeon’s ‘Avatar’ show is going to be a lil’ different in Netflix’s live-action version when it debuts next month … and that includes a lot less woman-hating, apparently.
Ian Ousely — the actor who’s been tapped to play real Sokka for the streaming giant’s take on the beloved animated series — spilled the beans to EW this week in terms of clarifying how his iteration of one of the main characters will stand apart from what fans remember.
He explained … “I wanted to make sure that Sokka is funny. There’s more weight with realism in every way.” His costar Kiawentiio (who plays Sokka’s sister, Katara, in Netflix’s show) chimed in to clear up which elements of the cartoon didn’t work so well in real life.
She interjected with … “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.”
To that, Ousley agreed in this interview … going on to say, “Yeah, totally. There are things that were redirected just because it might play a little differently [in live action].” EW also points out what diehards of the animation already know … namely, that Sokka is, in fact, very sexist as a character toward the start — but that, eventually, he outgrows that in his arc.
Sokka being humbled by a tribe of badass women was one the best early episodes
What is he supposed to do now? https://t.co/XuefIt9fYr pic.twitter.com/bENNvHoIu0
— Neo (@NeoWokio) January 30, 2024
@NeoWokio
Emphasis on that last part, specially. You see… Sokka’s sexism is a key character flaw that he has to mature past all throughout the OG series … something fans are keenly aware of, which is why they’re pissed that it’s now being revealed Netflix is changing this major detail.
You can hop into the “Sokka” trend right now on X to see how angry/disappointed everyone is that the Sokka they know — imperfect and in need of humbling, which often made for great/hilarious moments in the original — is not going to be found in this live remake.
That also kinda deflates the excitement fans had with the fact Netflix’s version actually *looked* a lot like the cartoon … which had many believing it’d be more faithful to the source material. Apparently, not that faithful. Seems Sokka was too problematic for Netflix.
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Womp, womp … 😑