Hot on the heels of Netflix’s The Dragon Prince, from Avatar: The Last Airbender head writer Aaron Ehasz, the studio has just stealthily announced that Avatar is coming back in an all-new, live-action series, as io9 and Gizmodo report.
Along with the first piece of concept art from the upcoming reboot, Netflix announced that The Last Airbender’s co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko are both signed on to oversee the show, something they’ve been planning on for ages.
In a public statement, DiMartino and Konietzko expressed their excitement about the upcoming show and made a point of stating that this incarnation of the Aang’s story will star characters of color, unlike M. Night Shyamalan’s much-maligned 2010 The Last Airbender:
“We’re thrilled for the opportunity to helm this live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. We can’t wait to realize Aang’s world as a cinematically appropriate, non-whitewashed cast. 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.”
Let’s give a yip-yip that the powers that be understand and see the magic in this original story. Save Korra and her moodiness/canon destruction for some sweet Yuri comics. I’m stoked to see that the well isn’t tapped. It’ll be amazing to see where this universe can go outside of Nickelodeon’s hands. Nickelodeon did great, it’s just a kid’s network; they have specifications and limitations. Netflix (as well as the graphic novels) are more broad. We’re ready to see where this story can go!
