The Legend of Korra Cast and Creators Talk Book Two
Second season to explore the Spirit World and the Avatar legacy.
by Max Nicholson
July 26, 2012
The Legend of Korra creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko gave us a lot to chew on at their Comic-Con panel recently. Most notably, we learned that the show was picked up for an additional 26 episodes, which brings the final tally to 52 episodes total (spread across four books). And now that Korra has mastered all four elements, Book Two: Spirits is already shaping up to be one of the most unique and exciting seasons of Avatar yet.
At Comic-Con, I had the pleasure of speaking with the cast and crew of The Legend of Korra: DiMartino, Konietzko, and stars Janet Varney (Korra), P.J. Byrne (Bolin), David Faustino (Mako) and Seychelle Gabriel (Asami). To start, we discussed the upcoming season and talked about what the characters have been up to since the end of Season 1.
As we learned at the Korra panel, the story picks up six months later. Mako has joined the Republic City Police Force as a cop. "He's making a big name for himself busting triads," said DiMartino. We also learned that Asami has taken over Future Industries from her father, who is now in prison. Following her breakup with Mako, Asami will be focusing on getting Hiroshis company back up and running. As Gabriel described it, her character is kind of like another misunderstood hero we might remember: I saw this one cool meme about Asami that had these bullet points: shes wealthy, she lost both of her parents, she was turned away by her love, and then it just said, Asami is Batman.
Meanwhile, Bolin just wants to find his way in the world. "Hes trying to get back into pro-bending," said DiMartino. "Theres a lot of fun stuff in there, Bolin getting into shenanigans." But as the creator noted, Season 2 is all about Korra. "Well get more into the spiritual side of things; well learn more about the Avatar State and the Spirit World."
Both creators knew that if they extended the original 12-episode order into multiple seasons, they would want to explore beyond Korra's years in training. "We wanted to jump farther ahead into Korras life," said Konietzko. "We didnt want to just start with a kid who needed to learn all four elements. That was Aangs story. We wanted this to provide opportunities and dynamics that were different for us. In that way, having Korra be older and starting out having mastered three of the elements gave us a different story to tell... Korra is now kind of the Avatar, so how does she deal with it? Even though she has all this power... shes kind of the bull in the china shop. She rushes in and fights with emotion and gets a little hotheaded. So that still gives us a lot of opportunity in the writing room."
Adding to that, Varney recalled one instance in which she totally related with her iron-willed character. "I would not say that I am like Korra in all the ways that shes amazing, but I am certainly like her in the ways that shes headstrong and impatient. I was playing tennis not very long ago -- I love to play tennis, but I was not playing well -- and I actually thought to myself, 'Be the leaf!' [Laughs] I was so frustrated! I get so frustrated in situations like that, and I could hear that in my head. I literally thought, 'Korra had to learn, I have to learn,' and I played better!"
As the title of the season suggests, Korra will also be visiting the Spirit World in future episodes. While the creators mentioned that additional appearances from Avatar Aang are still possible, they also revealed that they have something special planned for Book Two. "We have one of the most flashback-y of flashbacks coming up," said DiMartino. "We have something in store. We dont want to give it away quite yet. It seems like we always do some kind of flashback episode or sequence, something like that."
"We do have a history of doing that throughout Avatar," added Konietzko, "and I think that gives it a sense of history and mythology; its wider than just the story that youre watching. And [in Book Two], were doing it in a bigger way than weve ever done it before. It definitely deals with the legacy of the Avatar."
In addition to its sprawling anthology, Book Two will delve deeper into its romantic story arcs as well. Some fans have expressed frustration with the pairing of Mako and Korra, but Faustino notes that he's well aware of the controversy. "Im just trying to hide from the fangirls that are a little upset with Mako at this point," he joked. "Hes not really clearly deciding between Korra and Asami. There are some pissed off fangirls out there, so Im in hiding." Added Konietzko, "We had to tell the fans online before the panel that David is not actually Mako."
DiMartino clarified the love interest situation: "Korra and Mako are now together," he said. "They both have these really important jobs. Hes a cop, shes the Avatar -- and things can get a little complicated. Theyre in these respectable positions, and they're trying to maintain this relationship. Then we have one of the most bizarre love stories for Bolin, which I dont want to give away. In Avatar, we have plenty of relationship stuff going on -- love triangles and stuff like that -- but I think the ones we deal with in Book Two, weve never done before. Theyre different dynamics."
Of course, one of the most popular (albeit platonic) relationships of Season 1 was found with Lin Beifong and Tenzin. Varney in particular expressed that Lin's sacrifice in "Turning the Tides" was a season staple. "I feel like its one of the biggest things that happens in Book One," she said. "I am so not over what happened to Lin Beifong. I am so not over it. That was one of my favorite things, getting all the tweets from people after that episode aired. So many people tweeted me saying, 'I cannot stop crying!' I love the Tenzin/Lin/Pema storyline."
"I think weve learned that it doesnt matter what we do, well always upset most people," said Konietzko of the romances. However, it's experimenting with these different dynamics that often pays off in some form or another. "Most movies and stuff, its all about leading up to the relationship happening. But very few things deal with 'Now were together,' [like with Korra and Mako] or 'It didnt work out,' like with Tenzin and Beifong -- yeah, you still love these people, but it didnt work out. I think those are kind of interesting things for us to deal with."
In any case, there's no denying that the fans have been in constant support of the show as a whole. Coming in on the heels of their enthusiastic panel, the cast and creators said the crowd reaction at Comic-Con was more than they ever could have hoped for. "Were a little overwhelmed right now, but its awesome," remarked DiMartino. "Weve seen some really great costumes. Its pretty amazing."
"I think it kind of puts it into perspective for us," added Faustino. "Weve been hearing that it was going to be like this, but hearing about it and experiencing it are two different things. This is the reality of what weve been hearing."
"To see the fans -- some of them dressed up like [our characters] -- were so blown away," said Byrne. "Its a great opportunity for us to get that visceral feeling of the love that the fans have for the show... I think we actually need more TV like this. The lessons that Mike and Bryan put out there allow you to actually have conversations with your kids, and kids can question their parents about certain things; there's also a lovely mythology to it all. Hopefully the kids that are watching it now will ultimately watch it again with their own children."
good off the next season.
just how I feel.
She pretty much looks like a real life version of her character. 