Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series isn’t exactly like the original animated show—and fans are hesitant.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, cast members Kiawentiio, who plays Katara, and Ian Ousley who plays Sokka, were honest about one of the major differences between the live-action and animated versions.

They revealed that Sokka’s sexist nature will not be a part of the latest iteration, which was a major character arc for him, as he learns how to not be sexist during the course of the show.

“There’s more weight with realism in every way,” Ousley said.

Kiawentiio added, “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.” 

“Yeah, totally,” Ousley continued. “There are things that were redirected just because it might play a little differently [in live action].” 

Following the pair’s comments, EW noted that fans have dedicated Reddit threads to Sokka’s sexism, “discussing how the original Sokka (prior to his character journey) would make remarks like ‘Girls are better at fixing pants than guys, and guys are better at hunting and fighting.'”

Now, X users are wondering how Sokka will be portrayed with that part of his character having been stripped. Other fans point to the fact that perhaps this is why Avatar creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino abruptly left the show after spending two years developing it, citing creative differences—that perhaps straying so far from the original storyline created a rift. 

Avatar: The Last Airbender debuts on Feb. 22 on Netflix. Check out some fans' reactions below:

ironic as it is, you IMMEDIATELY make Sokka a less interesting character to watch by stripping away the sexism, its an intentional character flaw that the show acknowledges

Sokka literally gets called out for being sexist MINUTES into the first episode, it’s meant to be that way https://t.co/5JlGdPVL7h pic.twitter.com/mPl4vCJ8tr

— Rambler Kai (@WellHiddenKai) January 30, 2024

By doing this, they essentially destroy Avatar’s explicitly anti-sexist message

Sokka’s misogyny early on not only led to extraordinary character growth, but also made every subsequent female fighter seem even more impressive by contending in a world where sexism is so prevalent https://t.co/Y4kPoyQUGc pic.twitter.com/V8Kmk6WZAh

— New Year, New Footstool (@TheViewFromMyR1) January 30, 2024

What does it say about us culturally that a show that had morality tales written to be understandable for eight year olds is getting a remake aimed at those same eight year olds 20 years later that’s written to be *less* challenging https://t.co/eRB1ykjpAJ

— I don’t even own a lightsaber (@postbusters2k16) January 30, 2024

That….literally misses the point of his character arc that Suki helped him see why he was so wrong and humbled him and he was willing to swallow his pride and learn from her.

— Chipping Away The Backlog (@TheLadyGamer12) January 30, 2024

This is part of a worrying trend in fiction where viewers/readers conflate flawed characters with their creators, and assume depicting something is to promote it. You can’t have a character arc without flaws and you can’t critique society without depicting flawed characters https://t.co/YT02bncBUf

— Moniza Hossain (@moniza_hossain) January 30, 2024

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

We GOTTA stop with needing faves to be unproblematic. Sokka was sexist specifically to learn not to be.

Isn’t it cool that writers have the ability to use a character’s flaws to teach lessons to the viewers? To say “this character is wrong.” I think that stuff is neat. https://t.co/9xnBDtydet

— Scott (@ScottNiswander) January 30, 2024

This is.... literally a huge part of Sokka's journey?!

This is implying that the original show was sexist when it was pointedly rejecting the things that Sokka believed through it's narrative.

This is actually incredibly embarrassing. https://t.co/5qTsV8UpDe

— Johnny (@Johnny2Cellos) January 30, 2024

I wonder what they will do with Pakku, the point of Sokka and Pakku's mysoginy in the show is to make their characters grow by making them see what they did is wrong, It's also Katara character development to fight against such a sexist culture https://t.co/a4WDecQlNF pic.twitter.com/i95Emif206

— Silver (@Silverkyukon) January 30, 2024

Then no one on this production understood the point of Sokka’s character. It happens from 4-5 episodes and he wises his ass up and stops having that view because he came from a culture that was always the man takes care of everything, the woman is support. Just- Stop. https://t.co/XHLJseo3gN pic.twitter.com/zjuEroAxb1

— SammieBee VA (@KlausHoward) January 30, 2024