After years of waiting, those eagerly anticipating the live-action television adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender have finally gotten a teaser for the upcoming Netflix series. Although it’s not much – we get the symbols for air, earth, water, and fire before a title reveal – the teaser, which Netflix unveiled at this weekend’s Tudum event, should work to continue drumming up talk of The Last Airbender.
Netflix’s adaptation of The Last Airbender was announced back in 2018 and has seen its share of ups and down since. The most devastating lowlight came when series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko departed the project back in 2020 due to clashing with Netflix – you know, the old cliche of “creative differences.” Original series composer Jeremy Zuckerman also backed out out of solidarity to DiMartino and Konitetzko. At the time, DiMartino assured fans that “Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar has the potential to be good,” he wrote. “It might turn out to be a show many of you end up enjoying. But what I can be certain about is that whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make.”
This, of course, isn’t the first time the animated series (which aired from 2005-2008) has been given the live-action treatment, as M. Night Shyamalan helmed the widely panned The Last Airbender, which went on to earn nine Razzie nominations, “winning” five including Worst Picture, Worst Director and Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3D. So, yeah, Netflix’s take on The Last Airbender already has a leg up…The original series also had a sequel titled The Legend of Korra, which ran from 2012-2014 on Nickelodeon and Nick.com
The cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender includes Gordon Cromier as Aang, Dallas Liu as Prince Zuko, Kiawentiio as Katara, Ian Ousley as Sokka, and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as General Iroh. No release date has been announced, but when The Last Airbender does arrive on Netflix, fans can expect eight hour-long episodes.
What are your thoughts on the teaser? Will you catch Avatar: The Last Airbender when it hits Netflix? Let us know!