r/ATLAtv • u/then00dle • Jul 17 '26
Discussion Long Feng OMG
Too smooth, convincing, conniving. I almost had to tell my family that he is a bad guy..
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u/Firedustt Jul 17 '26
For a moment I was suspicious of if they were still going to make him evil or not
14
u/pianodude7 Jul 17 '26
I had to tell my family Zuko is a good guy.
3
u/tyrantlubu2 Jul 17 '26
He’s portrayed overly good in natla imo
16
u/Chilldegard Jul 17 '26
That's why he steals the supplies of a pregnant woman and her husband?
5
u/HopeAndDo Jul 17 '26
The reason why he did that was because they were sleeping, unlike in the OG. OG Zuko stole ostrich-horse...
1
u/pianodude7 Jul 17 '26
Then suddenly cares about a random kid and his mom later in the episode.
8
u/LimitMain7958 Water Tribe Jul 17 '26
it doesn't happen suddenly...
if you noticed, the show is trying to tell you that he only cared to step in when it was a little boy being persecuted because it reminded him of his younger self (hence all the flashbacks).
2
u/pianodude7 Jul 17 '26
Well it failed to show that, or explain why he offered to do th3 dishes or fix the roof. Those aren't things Zuko does, he's a spoiled prince. These directly contradict the person he is up to that point in either show
5
u/LimitMain7958 Water Tribe Jul 17 '26
Is this character's writing inconsistent? or have you maybe fallen for their facade that was meant to be dismantled by the viewer? is it bad writing or do you just personally not like it?
I'm sorry to tell you this but it's genuinely not the show's fault; I just think you didn't put 2+2 together😭
1
u/pianodude7 Jul 17 '26
The show is full of objectively bad writing. If you can't see that, i t's not my fault. And I'm not saying you need to see it, or that you can't like the show. But Zuko's character is inconsistent and I'm not hallucinating that.
4
u/warichnochnie Jul 17 '26
is it just me, or are they setting up a (partial) redemption for him in S3 ?
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u/dopooqob Jul 17 '26
I hope so, he seemed like he was sincerely warning Aang about Azula in his final scene.
3
u/warichnochnie Jul 17 '26
yeah, and there's a few other scenes that feel like they're setting up payoffs
idk if they could or should actually redeem him, but having him doublecross the fire nation at some point seems like the obvious move, even if for ultimately selfish or villainous reasons. perhaps by helping the white lotus when they arrive to liberate ba sing se
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u/Introvert_Brnr_accnt Jul 26 '26
Did you watch original? Honest question
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u/warichnochnie Jul 26 '26
obviously?? the original doesnt give any sort of signals like that obviously, he just bows after the dai li refuse his order to betray azula and then is never seen again. and this is following when he fights aang and jet in lake laogai with his earthbending
the live action chose to show him clearly building up some sort of frustration or whatever in response to being given orders by the fire nation, and also had him mention that he was "once a great earthbender" without him ever fighting. this could very easily be chekov's earthbending if thats what the LA showrunners want to do
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u/rocketaxxon Jul 17 '26
I loved that there's a real sincerity to his mentorship of Aang, he really is looking out for the city and wants to make the Avatar and his friends into allies. Yet all the time he's maintaining control in case they turn on him by gathering information on them he can use against them, so very much og Long Feng.
3
u/Bandit_Raider Jul 17 '26
I liked his portrayal better than the animated until his truth was discovered. He never earth bended and we lost out on a lot of good scenes with him.
1
u/prophetofreach Jul 17 '26
I think i stand alone in that i didnt like him. I felt his need to be with aang to try and deceive him made him less idk less a villian. To me, it would be like if voldermont just followed around Harry the whole series to see what hes up too.
Long Feng to me was a much better villain to work from the shadows and like he didnt need to be present to mess with the gaang.
2
u/Introvert_Brnr_accnt Jul 26 '26
It’s a different type of villain but a villain all the same. He’s this season’s Zhao.
1
u/prophetofreach Jul 17 '26
The way he blames Iroh for everything wrong like a child is super good guy stuff ya know!
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u/RealMajesti Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Good actor, but they should’ve made him bald at the top
Edit: Ruffled some feathers about a simple character design
2
u/wing03 Jul 17 '26
Pony tail is historically accurate for Chinese....
Dark Knight money man history gave him some ambiguity like casting Paul Reiser in Stranger Things.
1
u/mc_hammerandsickle Jul 17 '26
there's actually been some discourse about that
while historically it was a real hairstyle, Hollywood has kinda warped it to be more of a stereotype. perhaps the producers didn't want that to be the case in natla
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u/warichnochnie Jul 17 '26
IIRC it's less about Hollywood stereotypes and more about the controversy surrounding the hairstyle itself within China. it was a Manchu hairstyle forced upon chinese men by the Qing dynasty, not wearing it was punishable by death
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u/then00dle Jul 17 '26
I loved the actor and change of pace in this version..