r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Chill0000 • Aug 21 '26

Hated Tropes [HATED] Adaptations done intentionally without help from the source

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Halo TV show: Before the show came out, the writers were praising their decision to not look to the games for inspiration when making the show

God Of War TV show: Chris Judge, the actor of Kratos in the games from 2018-Now, spoke up about his dislike on the show not hiring anyone who worked on any of the previous games. One of the original creators of Kratos also spoke up about them not having faith in the adaptation.

Supergirl 2026 film: the director for the film not only said he decided to not read Woman Of Tomorrow, the comic the film is adapting, because he wanted to do his own thing, he also didn’t look at comic art for inspiration to design Lobo and instead used an AI image generator to design Lobo’s look for the film

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450

u/serioustransition11 Aug 21 '26

104

u/AydonusG Aug 21 '26

Tophs actress saying she wanted to make Toph more feminine because that's her take on the character...

27

u/Jaxonhunter227 Aug 21 '26

And that's not talking about the fact that the actor who plays jet, who was in his mid 20s, ended up getting into a romantic relationship with tophs actress when she was 16, and when the cast and crew grew concerned because that's definitely grooming, she completely denounced them and the franchise as a whole. That's just, REALLY messy all around no matter how you look at it.

7

u/PokemonSoldier Aug 21 '26

Sounds like Hollywood nepotism and thinking they know what is best

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u/Crimson097 Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26

From what I have heard, the creators themselves also didn't respect the source material much though. They tried to push for Iroh to be a twist villain, which was something they had already planned for the OG series and didn't go through with. Ozai was going to die in Season 1 with Iroh probably becoming the main villain. Yue was going to be killed by an arrow instead of becoming the moon spirit. Netflix refused to make these change, and it's why they left.

Edit: Don't take all of this as absolute truth, since it comes from leaks online, so it might not be completely accurate.

51

u/ChaosCarlson Aug 21 '26

source?

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u/Crimson097 Aug 21 '26

Iroh being a villain originally was in the series bible for ATLA: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/1qys7hd/full_32_page_of_preproduction_atla_series_bible/

The rest, as I said, is stuff that I have heard on social media and that has been floating around forums and youtube videos. So don't take them as absolute truth. Here's an article on it https://knightedgemedia.com/2026/01/massive-changes-netflixs-avatar-the-last-airbender-almost-had-under-mike-dimartino-bryan-konietzko/

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u/varnums1666 Aug 21 '26

From what I have heard, the creators themselves also didn't respect the source material much though

They're the creators. They are literally the source material.

Honestly I agree with them. What's the point of this remake if they're just going to do everything the same but worse. Do something different

52

u/FaithlessnessThen207 Aug 21 '26

Honestly I agree with them. What's the point of this remake if they're just going to do everything the same but worse. Do something different

To be fair this thread is literally complaining about when they do something different. Its just hard to please some people.

17

u/HalfEatenSnickers Aug 21 '26

Diffrent can be done well

And with respect

Take the martian for instance - they changed alot and shortened alot but it still served the screen well

Or uncharted movie- it wasnt the best but it was an abridged version of the games at best

Willy wonka and the choclate factory is VASTLY diffrent from the source book but is still beloved- one of my favorite films btw

You can totally change a story while still respecting source material and ideas

18

u/Alkakd0nfsg9g Aug 21 '26

Turning the beloved uncle Iroh into twist villain wouldn't go well (to put it mildly) with the original fanbase and it doesn't matter whose idea it was

4

u/N0ob8 Aug 21 '26

It could’ve if done well. If the series was designed as a “what if” story where shit is fucked up and shows what could’ve happened. Sorta like that one popular avatar fanfic where the world is swapped on its head.

1

u/Jay040707 Aug 21 '26

So kinda like the Scott pilgrim anime adaptation?

1

u/Llayanna Aug 21 '26

No, it's complaining about the source material not being respected.

These are two very different pairs of shoes.

4

u/Reylo-Wanwalker Aug 21 '26

They're the same for many people I think.

2

u/Jaxonhunter227 Aug 21 '26

Exactly! An adaptation can do something very different while still respecting the source material, like edge of tomorrow. A lot of changes from the Japanese novel, but its still a really good and respectful adaptation

One piece live action is another good examples, adding new stuff and slightly changing things, but it's still respectful of the source material. The author being involved definitely helps with that, but that's not the sole reason why

1

u/Ongr Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26

What I personally live about the Live Action One Piece ahow is how goofy and low-budget everything looks, but everyone puts their entire soul into it.

I think I fell in love with the show pretty early when that villain that acts and dresses like a cat, looks corny af, but is still a convincing villain.

It's the passion and the heart every single one of these goofballs radiate from the screen that makes me love it.

I've never watched One Piece proper, but I feel like they're pretty respectful to the source material.

3

u/Jaxonhunter227 Aug 21 '26

I used to think that the key to a good adaption was to pick the right thing to adapt because not everything can adapt into live action, and i used to use one piece as the example of something that can never be adapted into live action because the world is too goofy and silly. Then it came out, and i realized I was wrong, the key to a good adaptation is complete sincerity. Even if it's goofy, if everyone is completely sincere, then it just works, it just feels normal and natural because no one is reacting to the weird as weird, because it isn't to them.

Taz as sanji kills a sea otter assassin during a tense call with Mr 0, and it doesn't take you out of the scene, they've pulled off some real magic with this show

1

u/Chill0000 Aug 21 '26

It’s not about doing something different. There are adaptations I love that also make creative changes for the sake of the adaptation. This is about when it’s clear the people making the adaptation did not want to look to the source material and just do their own thing with it

An example of a change I do like in an adaptation is Aragorn in lord of the rings. Book him is a lot more sure on being king of men. The films added his uncertainty to being king and his distrust of his human bloodline. I think both are fine, but I enjoy the movie adding a more complex journey for him.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '26

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1

u/Brok3nHalo Aug 21 '26

Well that’s a different case. Have to give the writers some slack on it as ROP is kinda forced to be fan fiction because they literally can’t adapt the canon events. They can only directly adapt things mentioned in the Lord of the Rings appendices and are directly forbidden from using anything from The Silmarillion or The History of Middle-earth that’s not mentioned in them.

If you just accept it’s a fan fiction in the LotR universe I think it’s a decent show. First season had some serious flaws, and not saying it’s perfect or anything, but I thought the second season was much better from what I remember.

25

u/Crimson097 Aug 21 '26

Of course an adaptation is free to make changes, but that doesn't mean all changes are good. Ozai not being the main villain could be interesting, it's not like he's that much in the OG show anyways. But with changes like Iroh being evil, and Yue not becoming the moon it feels like you are losing more than you are gaining.

Just because they are the creators, it doesn't mean that every change they make is good. Many times creators need other opinions to keep their writing in check.

23

u/FeanorEvades Aug 21 '26

But with changes like Iroh being evil, and Yue not becoming the moon it feels like you are losing more than you are gaining.

Yue not being the moon isn't exactly pivotal to the storytelling.

Iroh being evil is like siphoning the entire soul of the show out. He is literally the biggest agent for change for the primary antagonist. His wisdom, calm, and positivity is intrinsic to the heart of the show.

2

u/_Koreander Aug 21 '26

Agree, it's so hard for people to understand that some changes are good and some are not, some character arcs/plot points/themes are so integral to the source material that changing them makes you even question why adapt something in the first place, while some changes are good to expand on the ideas on the original or necessary to make the switch from the original medium the story was told on.

The Lord of the rings is not an exact re-telling of the books yet the integral message and spirit of the story is there, that's what makes it such a beloved adaptation despite it's changes, no one would've wanted to see something dumb like "Gandalf becomes evil and replaces Saruman" or something just because "it is an adaptation and changes will be made"

2

u/varnums1666 Aug 21 '26

Avatar already has an amazing animated show that doesn't do much wrong. A live action remake was always going to be an inferior product because it doesn't need to exist. When the original series is already beloved, good, and accessibly, I would much prefer for the creators to go wild with an alternative retelling.

1

u/otakugal15 Aug 21 '26

Oh it did wrong in s3. Lots of good, yes, but also really big wrong.

1

u/varnums1666 Aug 22 '26

Curious why you feel that way. For the most part I love s3. I think s2 was a tad stronger but I consider s3 almost perfect for the story.

1

u/otakugal15 Aug 22 '26

Not gonna say cause I'd get downvoted to hell and back.

1

u/varnums1666 Aug 22 '26

It's reddit man. Who cares. Speak your mind.

1

u/otakugal15 Aug 21 '26

They are notoriously bad at writing. TLoK seasons 1 and 2 are proof of that.

They had a full writing team in the og show and test views of the pilot were negative (where Iroh was evil).

They are good at world building (to an extent).

Just because they are the og creators doesn't mean they can do no wrong.

They have done many a wrong.

4

u/Jasperstorm Aug 21 '26

If you want to do something different then make something different, don’t take the name of an established ip and fundamentally change it into a different story.

1

u/tomgh14 Aug 21 '26

So i can slowly indoctrinate my parents into watching an animated version of anything by showing them a good live action version

1

u/bigdaddyputtputt Aug 22 '26

Yes, and no to them being the source material the original show had a lot of writers. The sequel show had only one writer.

Now if you’ve seen Korra you can actually see how them gaining full creative control changed the way they wrote the story.

The sequel is arguably, a much less morally complex show despite introducing villains whose motives they explain. And I think this is because the main two writers have very traditional ways of seen good and evil versus the initial show had somebody influencing it a bit away from that.

Edit: I agree, though that it’s arguably better to do a different story. Though I wish they just done an avatar before Aang.

3

u/Thundergod250 Aug 21 '26

Damn if you, damn if you don't.

When it's too much the same, people complains like what happens in How To Train Your Dragon LA

When it's too much different, people still complains like what happened to Dragonball Evolution

In reality, it doesn't matter if it's much different nor very much the same as long as it's good. Edge of Tomorrow literally only picked up the Premise from All You Need Is Kill manga and then completely changed it from thereon but it's positive reviews. One Piece were also almost the same as the Manga/Anime. Positive Reviews either.

1

u/Llayanna Aug 21 '26

You are talking about the franchise that is wildly different from it's book though..

XD

-5

u/Phoenix-Risen1998 Aug 21 '26

Yeah but no one's going to watch an advertised adaptation.

8

u/Thatoneguy111700 Aug 21 '26

Tbh the more time passes, more and more it seems like Avatar was a one-hit wonder.

2

u/otakugal15 Aug 21 '26

It really is. Cause everything aftwr (comics, TLok, TLoA, has been terrible).

-1

u/DaVirus Aug 21 '26

Everything Korra proved that the creators themselves don't know what they are doing and that ATLA was a fluke.

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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '26

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3

u/Farraddaayy Aug 21 '26

A fluke for 4 seasons in a row?

Okay

0

u/GrandJuif Aug 21 '26

Total agree and the new serie just confirm it even harder.

1

u/tatu_huma Aug 21 '26

The new series is out?

0

u/GrandJuif Aug 21 '26

They already showed and said stuff on it plus there was leaks. Go do some search on it I don't want to taint your opinion more, better to form it yourself.