Never speak to me about anything called “Avatar,” unless you’re going to immediately clarify whether we are talking about blue people or a bald boy. Having worked in the entertainment journalism industry for more than 15 years, I’ve developed an eye twitch over this frequent point of confusion. Referring to James Cameron’s franchise as “Papyrus Avatar” is also acceptable.
Avatar: The Last Airbender originally began airing on Nickelodeon in 2005 and was an instant hit. James Cameron’s first Avatar movie arrived in theaters a few years later in 2009, and remains the highest-grossing movie of all time at just over $2.9 billion. I prefer the animated series, but nobody can deny the cultural impact of the movie and the unsteady stream of sequels projected to continue through the apocalypse. But I resent James Cameron for the persistent headache that is the overlap between these two franchises, especially because both just seem to keep going. Neither one has faded in our cultural memory over the years as sequels, adaptations, and video games continue to be released even today.
That’s why it’s time for Benders and the Na’vi to duke it out in the ring. That’s right, I want to see a direct sequel to the newly released Avatar: Legends fighting game done in the style of Marvel vs. Capcom. It may sound crazy for a fighting game, but remember that Sephiroth debuted with a trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with a trailer in which he seemed to stab Mario through the chest. Stranger crossovers have happened.
What’s more, Avatar: Legends is already designed as a crunchy fighting game with complex systems and a support mechanic that evokes the assist-driven chaos of Marvel vs. Capcom. Players have light, medium, heavy, and Flow inputs, along with separate Chi and Chakra meters. The former governs movement combat resources like Flow Stance and dodging. The latter builds up over time to power more devastating attacks, governing defensive maneuvers, special attacks, supers, and cancels. Chi and Chakra don’t map neatly onto the neural network of spirit energy that Na’vi tap into, called vitra, but they don’t have to. “Chi” and “Chakra” might be framed as magical spiritualism, but mechanically they work on a more basic level.
The most immediate concern for this awesome crossover is the absurd height differences. The 12-year-old Toph Beifong is around 3’8”. Most Na’vi are almost three times that height. Jake Sully’s Na’vi form is canonically 8’11”. Fighting games, however, have never been constrained by something as trivial as physical scale. Tekken has a fighter that is just a very large bear. Mortal Kombat has a giant with four arms. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate pits a large space dragon against the likes of Pikachu. Guilty Gear also plays with character scale to great effect, with characters like Faust and Potemkin. Even in Marvel vs. Capcom, there’s a playable Sentinel from X-Men and Nemesis from Resident Evil. I could go on, but I don’t need to. Fighting games are loaded with weird playable characters.
While most Na’vi would be more limited due to their lack of bending, they’d make up for it in reach and power. Jake Sully is the obvious beginner-friendly all-rounder. Give him a bow for ranged attacks and a knife for close combat. Neytiri would be a much more mobile fighter that focuses on using her bow and arrow. Their daughter, Kiri, has a strong connection to Eywa, so you could essentially give her something akin to nature bending — influencing plants and animals to whip or attack enemies at range.
You could even get Colonel Miles Quaritch in there, piloting an AMP suit as the roster’s hulking grappler like he did in the first movie. If he loses the first round, maybe his human body dies, and he returns for round two as his younger, bluer Recombinant self. Is that remotely balanced? Nope. Is it canonically accurate? Yes!
Avatar: Fire and Ash’s Varang is not technically a firebender, yet she utilizes flames and poison clouds in a similar fashion. She seems destined to come up against Azula from The Last Airbender. The distinct abilities between The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra characters are much simpler, but there’s still enough variation among the blue people that it can work.
This crossover practically writes itself. Call it Avatar x Avatar, Avatars vs. Avataller, Avatarvatar, or even James Cameron’s Avatar All-Star Brawl. Use the Papyrus font for half the logo. Release DLC characters pinned to the new upcoming Avatar: Seven Havens series, new seasons of Netflix’s live-action The Last Airbender series, and the upcoming James Cameron sequels. That gives you content for at least the next five years.
For nearly two decades, these franchises have forced innocent people like me to constantly ask, “Wait, which Avatar?” It’s time to turn that confusion into violence.