An Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action reboot series is coming to Netflix!
Avatar: The Last Airbender co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino are reuniting to serve as executive producers and showrunners on the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series.
“We’re thrilled for the opportunity to helm this live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender,” Konietzko and DiMartino say. “We can’t wait to realize Aang’s world as cinematically as we always imagined it to be, and with a culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed cast.”
As the fans heave a collective sigh of relief, the creators continue: “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build upon everyone’s great work on the original animated series and go even deeper into the characters, story, action, and world-building. Netflix is wholly dedicated to manifesting our vision for this retelling, and we’re incredibly grateful to be partnering with them.”
The news first broke when the Netflix account See What’s Next shared the jaw-dropping revelation about the future of Avatar: The Last Airbender like it was absolutely no big deal at all.
A reimagined, live-action “Avatar: The Last Airbender” series is coming to Netflix!
(ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇᴘᴛ ᴀʀᴛ ʙʏ Jᴏʜɴ Sᴛᴀᴜʙ) pic.twitter.com/YsMoE4UguV
Article Continues Below— See What's Next (@seewhatsnext) September 18, 2018
Spoiler alert: It’s a big deal.
Chris Viscardi, Senior Vice President of Animation Production and Development with Nickelodeon, who will partner with Netflix to create the Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action series says that the cartoon “Continues to grow and resonate with fans around the world due its combination of relatable characters with all their foibles and a fully realized world of epic, high-stakes stories and adventures. This partnership with Netflix is part of our broader efforts at Nick and Viacom to tap into our enormous library of culturally resonant properties to produce new interpretations, and we can’t wait for people to see Netflix’s live-action version of Avatar.”
The brilliant and beloved Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series aired on Nickelodeon from 2005 – 2008, gaining a diverse fanbase of “Avatards” of all ages. The series was followed by Avatar: The Legend of Korra, which also received great acclaim and dealt with slightly more adult subjects than the first series.
The only blight on the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise (and the elephant-monkey in the room here) is the epically terrible live-action film directed by M. Night Shyamalan. With a white-washed Asian cast, inconsistent CGI, and a weirdly garbled version of the story, critics and fans alike consider the film one of the greatest failures of adaptation in popular media.
It looks like Netflix is well aware of this, and is already prepared to alleviate fan anxieties.
“We are committed to honoring Bryan and Mike’s vision for this retelling and are thrilled to support them on creating a live-action event series, bringing Aang’s epic world of elemental magic to life for global audiences on Netflix,” says Melissa Cobb, vice-president of Kids & Family Content for Netflix.
One piece of concept art for Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action series, by artist John Staub, has been released:
Stay tuned to Hypable for further developments on this project! Meanwhile, I’m going to drink some nice, calming tea.
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