WARNING! : Contains "THE LEGEND OF AANG: THE LAST AIRBENDER" leaks!!
If you continued to read past that warning I assume you've already seen the leaks and as the ATLA mega fan that I am I went a lil (very) feral while watching these clips. I could go on and on about my thoughts but I really wanted to talk my theories on Zuko & the type of arc he may go on in this. Truthfully, I may be very incorrect as I'm working with limited knowledge & lack of a trailer which would help us get a general idea of the plot but I needed to get this out somewhere.
Zuko is coming out of the closet
I don't think I ever headcanoned him as queer before but there was this one interaction in the leaked scene that's been making the gears shift. When the Gaang (god I missed spelling gang like that) discover a man with tatoos frozen in ice.. that shockingly isn't Aang this time. Toph with her seismic sense instantaneously claims that the mystery man is attractive. She asks for confirmation and it causes all of Team Avatar to bicker back and forth until Zuko cuts them off with the simple sentence
All their expressions shift instantly. Sokka looks disguisted but I'm pretty sure that he'd be that way if ANYONE said that creature of a man was hot Especially since this movie is most likely going to at LEAST have some element of Tokka.
Toph is caught off guard. Switching from her more relaxed stance w/ leaning her head back to instantly being alert. Katara's expression is hard to read for me, my Autstic ass is struggling 🥀 we should just ignore her.
Aang though.. he's incredibly shocked. But I don't think it's in a neutral or disgusted way like other have responded. He if anything seems like a mix of surprise and awe. (And no, I'm not elluding to Zukaang I'm no freak) And that's where I tie in.. something revealed in the legend of korra comic: "Turf Wars"
in Air Nomad Culture, Queer couples were embraced and treated with the same kindness as Hetro ones. There wasn't a difference in their eyes just as long as pure love was shared between the individuals. This was the culture Aang was born and raised in.
I genuinely, believe Sozin was evil for the fun of it.
Anyways, Zuko was growing up not just in this era but was the heir to the throne so a lot of expectations were placed on his shoulders. He could have very well suppressed any thoughts he had towards men & his attraction towards them.
Since Aang grew up in such a distinctly different environment than Zuko. He has no problem with the fact that he might be Bi/Pan (or maybe even another micro label, as he did seem to actually love Mai and Jin) Maybe Aang in that moment realized after years of knowing his best friend that he wasn't straight, he finds it beautiful really just wants to help Zuko embrace that side of him. It really reminds me of this comic
Crazy how close this comic as become to being canon.
I also would like to briefly mention that this could also be the reason we never know who Izumi's mother is, Zuko could have married a man in secrecy & had someone be a surrogate to continue the Royal Bloodline.
I just wanted to close this off saying this very well could be a reach. Again, as I started this post saying we don't know enough about the plots or deeper themes to say "Oh! I'm certain this is going to be the case!!" but what truly keeps a fandom alive & builds hype for releases are fan theories. I think if they took his character in this direction it'd be unexpected, yet really heartfelt & tender. What are your thoughts though? And what did you think about the leaks?
