Avatar: The Last Airbender is the latest animated series to get a live-action Netflix adaptation. Long-time Avatar fans hope it will join the short list of successful adaptations, and if the trailer is anything to go by, it looks like we might just get our wish.
The original animated series is often considered one of the best-animated shows of all time, begging the question, why mess with perfection? After a disastrous film adaptation (pour one out for all the people who saw this opening day with me in middle school; we learned how cruel this world can be that day), fans are understandably cautious about a new live-action adaptation.
Even before Netflix dropped a proper trailer, hype began to build. We have yet to find out if that hype is justified, but it looks like Netflix might actually respect the source material and give us what we want. The trailer shows a fleshed-out, detailed world and includes several characters we worried might not be in the adaptation, including Aang’s loyal friends, Momo and Appa.
Who is Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s Momo?
Momo is a winged lemur and one of Aang’s most trusted companions. Aang meets Momo for the first time when he visits the Southern Air Temple with Katara and Sokka in the third episode of the show. Momo is believed to be the last of his kind and the only living soul the gang finds in Aang’s old home. From his very first appearance, Momo is established as a very important character: The lemur provides comic relief throughout the show and occasionally helps his friends in times of need.
While Momo is close with all of Team Avatar (or the “gaang,” if you prefer), he’s closest with Appa, the flying bison. The two are competitive at times and have an almost sibling-like bond, annoying each other and engaging in petty fights. Despite this, Momo and Appa can work together in times of trouble, to save their friends or each other.
When Appa goes missing in Ba Sing Se, Momo is so distraught he undergoes a sepia-toned flashback of the two friend’s greatest moments together. Momo then looks all over the city for him and is ecstatic to be reunited with his friend after this ordeal. Their friendship is one of the highlights of the animated show and it’s promising to see Netflix has shown the two during the live-action promo.
You can watch Momo and the rest of the characters when the live-action show premieres Feb. 22, 2024.