The Netflix live-action series Avatar: The Last Airbender will hit Netflix on February 22, 2024.
Fresh off its critically acclaimed live-action adaptation of the hugely popular anime series One Piece, Netflix has released the first official teaser for yet another live-action adaptation: Avatar: The Last Airbender, based on the animated Nickelodeon TV series of the same name. As we’ve noted before, Netflix has a mixed track record for these anime adaptations, but if the teaser is any indication, The Last Airbender could join One Piece as another smashing success for the streaming platform.
(Some spoilers for the anime series below, but no major reveals.)
Created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the original anime series was set in an Asian-inspired world where certain chosen individuals have the ability to telekinetically manipulate one of four elements (earth, air, water, and fire)—a practice known as “bending.” Each generation, there is one Avatar who can bend all four elements and is thus responsible for maintaining harmony among the four elemental nations, as well as being a link between the physical and spirit worlds.
A 12-year-old Air Nomad boy named Aang is the current Avatar, but he hid in a state of suspended animation for a century because he was afraid of taking on that huge responsibility. Two Water Tribe siblings, Katara and Sokka, eventually revive Aang, who finds that the Fire Nation has wiped out most of the Air Nomads in his absence. Katara and Sokka join Aang, an airbender, on his quest to master bending each of the remaining three elements. Their mission is hampered by the banished Fire Nation Prince Zuko, who seeks to capture Aang to restore his honor with his father, Fire Lord Ozai, with the help of his uncle Iroh.
The anime Last Airbender premiered on Nickelodeon in February 2005 and ran for three seasons, each covering Aang’s quest to master one of the other three elements (Water, Earth, Fire). It was hugely popular and critically acclaimed, earning praise for its sophisticated (yet child-friendly) storytelling, universal themes, and skillful incorporation of East Asian art and mythology. Netflix added all three seasons (61 episodes) of The Last Airbender to its streaming library in 2020, and within four days, the anime series hit the top spot on the platform and spent 60 days in the top-10 list. Netflix understandably greenlit a live-action adaptation.
