Netflix has released a new trailer for its live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. The series, titled Avatar: The Last Airbender, is set to launch globally on February 22nd and is a live-action reimagination of the beloved animated series. It follows Aang, the young Avatar, as he learns to master the four elements (water, earth, fire, and air) to restore balance in a world threatened by the terrifying Fire Nation. The series consists of eight one-hour episodes and features Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley, Dallas Liu, Ken Leung, as well as Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and Daniel Dae Kim.
Last month, showrunner Albert Kim finally addressed the departure of the original creators in 2020. “You’d have to be an idiot not to be a little intimidated,” said Kim. My initial reaction [when offered the position], after saying “Super!”, was to think “Oh my God.” Do I really want to do this? Is there a way to improve on the original? When you’re taking on something that is already beloved by millions of fans, you have to ask yourself these questions.
Three seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender originally aired on Nickelodeon and the show is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time. A sequel, The Legend of Korra, followed years later (along with several comic books and novels), and Konietzko and DiMartino are currently developing other animation projects set in the same universe. The live-action series will be an adaptation of the original Avatar: The Last Airbender series rather than a sequel, although Kim has stated that they are making changes to certain elements in order to tell the story to a new generation. “We are not starting the series in the same way as the animated series. It was a deliberate decision to show people that this is not the animated series,” Kim said. “We have had to untangle plotlines and remix them to make sense in the context of a dramatic series. So, I am very curious to see what the reactions will be regarding this.”
Konietzko and DiMartino have stated that they left the project because “Netflix committed to honoring our vision for this reimagining,” but “things didn’t go as we had hoped.” They have said that the series has “the potential to be good” but “will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make.” The adaptation was announced in 2018 and is finally arriving on February 22, 2024. It stars Gordon Cormier as Aang, Kiawentiio Tarbell as Katara, Ian Ousley as Sokka, Dallas Liu as Zuko, and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Uncle Iroh. Netflix first shared an image of Aang and friends in June 2023 before revealing the Fire Nation characters in October.