Legend Of Korra Creator Responds To Fan Criticism: Michael DiMartino Says In Tumblr Post, 'No One Likes A Boring Story'
In talking about story construction, "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "The Legend of Korra" co-creator Michael DiMartino has uploaded a thought-provoking Tumblr post regarding fan criticism.
"As most of you know by now, at the end of [comic series] 'The Search' part 1, Zuko finds a letter from his father that suggests he may not be Ozai's son after all," starts DiMartino in the written about the series between "Avatar" and "The Legend of Korra."
"This cliffhanger seemed to leave people either excited or angry. Like I wrote about in this post when 'The Search' was released, the expectations for this story were such that no matter what happened, I figured more than a few people would be upset with the way it all played out."
As many "Avatar" and "Legend of Korra" fans know, the story of Zuko's mother has long been a story point that fans have fussed over, but it seems the final reveal remains barraged with criticism.
In the post, DiMartino points out that "Avatar: The Last Airbender-The Search" will have three parts to it, and part 3 has not even been released yet before criticism surfaced.
"I find it fascinating when readers or viewers are upset by an unexpected turn of events in a story, because this is the very reason we like to read them - to be surprised, to find out what happens next, to have a vicarious experience through another's eyes," continues the "Legend of Korra" creator.
"When stories don't deviate from the expected, they become boring. And no one likes a boring story."
And on the issue of knowing the story from the beginning of the "Avatar" or "Legend of Korra" conception, DiMartino's answer was simple.
"The truth is, there would be no way we could've known every detail or character in the 'Avatar' world. When we pitched the series, we laid out a lot of the groundwork for books 1-3 of ['Avatar: The Last Airbender'], but characters like Zuko, Zhao, and most of Aang's adventures had yet to be created."