The series is set in a fictional world where human civilization is divided into four nations based on the four classical elements: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. In each nation, some people known as "benders" can telekinetically manipulate one of the four elements. The story follows the journey of twelve-year-old Avatar Aang, the last survivor of the Air Nomads and the next "Avatar" who can master all four elements, awoken after a century of being frozen in ice. The series was first announced in September 2018, with DiMartino and Konietzko attached as both executive producers and showrunners. However, in June 2020, the pair departed the series over creative differences. In August 2021, Kim was officially announced as a writer, executive producer and showrunner.
The first season was released on Netflix on February 22, 2024, and garnered mixed reception from critics. In March 2024, the series was renewed for a second and third season.
Premise
The series is set in a war-torn world where certain people can "bend" one of the four classical elements—water, earth, fire or air. Aang, the "Avatar" and the last living Airbender, is the bridge between the mortal and spirit worlds, and the only one capable of bending all four of the elements instead of just one. The Avatar maintains the balance of the world and nature to bring peace, and after awakening a century frozen after the genocide of his people, Aang is now faced with the responsibility of ending the ambitions of the militaristic Fire Nation to conquer the world. With his new companions Katara and Sokka, Aang sets out to master the four elements while pursued by Zuko, the exiled crown prince of the Fire Nation, who seeks to regain his honor by capturing him.[4]
Gordon Cormier as Avatar Aang: A free-spirited and peaceful twelve-year-old airbender who was frozen in ice for a hundred years. When he wakes up, all the other airbenders have been wiped out by the Fire Nation and he embarks on a quest to end the war and become the figurehead of balance and harmony for the world as the Avatar.[5]
Kiawentiio as Katara: A fourteen-year-old who is the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe after her mother was killed by the Fire Nation. Despite her personal tragedy, she joins Aang on his journey while growing to her true potential.[5]
Meadow Kingfisher portrays young Katara in flashbacks.[6]
Ian Ousley as Sokka: Katara's sixteen-year-old brother who has tried to become the quasi-leader of their tribe after their father left to fight in the war. He joins Aang on his mission along with Katara, and makes up for his lack of bending abilities with his intelligence, resourcefulness and trusty boomerang.[5]
Dallas Liu as Prince Zuko: The scarred, exiled and short-tempered seventeen-year-old crown prince of the Fire Nation, bent on capturing the Avatar to end his banishment and regain his honor.[5]
Ken Leung as Commander Zhao: An ambitious, yet arrogant, ruthless and dishonorable Fire Nation naval officer and Zuko's bitter main rival in his pursuit of the Avatar.[7]
Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai: The tyrannical and sadistic ruler of the Fire Nation, Iroh's younger brother, and Zuko and Azula's father.[8] Kim had previously lent his voice to the Avatar franchise: as General Fong in Book 2 of The Last Airbender and as Hiroshi Sato in The Legend of Korra.[9] "He's deliciously a villain, and that's what I sank my teeth into," Kim said in an interview, going on to compare Ozai with Darth Vader from Star Wars.[10]
Miya Cech as Toph Beifong (season 2): An abrasive and unfiltered earthbending prodigy who was born blind and uses her abilities to sense around her by feeling seismic vibrations.[11]
Recurring
Lim Kay Siu as Gyatso: A mischievous, chipper, kind, and caring Air Nomad monk who is Aang's mentor and father figure.[7]
Casey Camp-Horinek as Gran Gran: The matriarch of the Southern Water Tribe and Sokka and Katara's paternal grandmother.[12]
Ruy Iskandar as Lieutenant Jee: A Fire Nation officer on Zuko's ship.[13]
Momo, a winged lemur who befriends Aang and joins him on his journey.[14]
Ryan Mah as Lieutenant Dang: An officer in the Fire Nation Navy loyal to Zhao.[15]
Utkarsh Ambudkar as King Bumi: The elderly king of Omashu who is Aang's oldest friend.[16] Pradnesh Prakask portrays a young Bumi.
Elizabeth Yu as Princess Azula: The cunning and prodigiously gifted princess of the Fire Nation and Zuko's younger sister.[12] Showrunner Albert Kim stated ahead of the show's premiere that Azula is featured a lot more in the new show's first season than she is in the original cartoon's first season, crediting the knowledge of what Azula does later in the original show's second and third seasons for the writers having the advantage of where to take her.[17]
Thalia Tran as Mai: Azula's stoic friend who is skilled in knife throwing.[18]
Momona Tamada as Ty Lee: Azula's acrobatic and cheerful friend who is skilled in chi-blocking.[19][20]
Amber Midthunder as Princess Yue: The princess of the Northern Water Tribe.[21] Midthunder also voices the fox form of Princess Yue in the Spirit World.
Guest
Hiro Kanagawa as Fire Lord Sozin: The Fire Lord who started the 100-year war and Zuko's great-grandfather.[22]
David Sakurai as an earthbender who discovers Sozin's plan to attack the other nations.[23]
Yvonne Chapman as Avatar Kyoshi: The legendary earthbender Avatar preceding Aang's previous incarnation, Avatar Roku.[12]
Maria Zhang as Suki: The leader of Kyoshi Island's elite all-female soldiers, the Kyoshi Warriors.[12]
Tamlyn Tomita as Yukari: Suki's mother and the fiercely protective mayor of her small village on Kyoshi Island.[12]
Osric Chau as Tan: The leader of a group of Fire Nation rebels who plan to assassinate Ozai only to fall into a deadly ambush.[24]
Danny Pudi as Sai, the Mechanist: A single father and inventor from the Earth Kingdom.[25]
Lucian-River Chauhan as Teo: The Mechanist's wheelchair-using son.[26]
Sebastian Amoruso as Jet: The leader of the Freedom Fighters, a group of revolutionaries who fight back against the Fire Nation.[27]
Taylor Lam Wright as the Duke: The youngest member of the Freedom Fighters.[28]
Vincent Huang as Pipsqueak: A physically imposing member of the Freedom Fighters.
Wes Valarao as Smellerbee: A female member of the Freedom Fighters who is often mistaken for a boy because of her looks.[29]
Nathaniel Kong as Longshot: A silent archer and member of the Freedom Fighters.[30]
James Sie as the Cabbage Merchant: An unfortunate merchant whose produce is continually destroyed. Sie reprises his role from the animated series.[31]
Albert Nicholas as Captain Dixit: An earthbender captain who seeks revenge for Iroh's role during the siege of the Earth Kingdom city Ba Sing Se.
George Takei as the voice of Koh the Face Stealer: A centipede-like spirit who uses the stolen faces of his victims. Takei also voiced the warden of a Fire Nation prison camp in Book One of The Last Airbender.[32]
Randall Duk Kim as the voice of Wan Shi Tong: An owl spirit and collector of knowledge who is very distrustful towards humans.[33]
Arden Cho as June: A bounty hunter who is hired by Zuko to find the Avatar.[34][35]
Simon Chin as Yang: A bartender at an Earth Kingdom village who tells Zuko and Iroh about a sighting of the Avatar.[36]
Ash Lee as Shufen: The head of an Earth Kingdom village that is being terrorized by an angry forest spirit.
Teleplay by: Emily Kim & Hunter Ries and Bryan Konietzko Story by: Ubah Mohamed and Bryan Konietzko & Michael Dante DiMartino
February22,2024(2024-02-22)
7
"The North"
Jet Wilkinson
Audrey Wong Kennedy
February22,2024(2024-02-22)
8
"Legends"
Jet Wilkinson
Albert Kim
February22,2024(2024-02-22)
Production
Development
In 2018, Netflix announced that a "reimagined" live-action remake of Avatar was to start production in 2019.[49][50] The series' original creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, were initially announced to be the executive producers and showrunners.[51][52] In June 2020, the creators departed the series due to creative differences. This was revealed after DiMartino published an open letter on his own website on August 12, 2020. The pair cited differences in their approach to the show compared with Netflix's vision, also citing a "negative and unsupporting" environment during their time with the studio;[53][54][55][56] the duo ultimately received writing credits for the first and sixth episodes.[57]
In August 2021, Albert Kim was officially announced as a writer, executive producer and showrunner; he commented in a blog post: "My first thought was, 'Why? What is there I could do or say with the story that wasn't done or said in the original?' But the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I became. We'll be able to see bending in a real and visceral way we've never seen before."[58] In the same post, Kim emphasized that "throughout this process, our byword has been 'authenticity'. To the story. To the characters. To the cultural influences. Authenticity is what keeps us going, both in front of the camera and behind it." Dan Lin, Lindsey Liberatore, Michael Goi, and Roseanne Liang were also announced as executive producers with Goi and Liang both directing episodes of the series.[59][58] In the first season, each episode reportedly cost more than $15 million to make.[60]
On March 6, 2024, the series was renewed for a second and third season, with it set to conclude with the latter.[61] On April 4, 2024, it was announced that Kim would be stepping down as showrunner but would remain as an executive producer, while co-executive producer Christine Boylan and executive producer Jabbar Raisani would become showrunners for the second and third seasons.[62]
Casting
Prior to their departure, DiMartino and Konietzko had revealed that they are committed to "culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed casting" according to a statement from Konietzko.[63] Konietzko had said that he was hoping to include Dante Basco, the original voice actor who played Zuko.[64] In August 2021 following leaked casting reports, Netflix revealed the show's cast for the main four characters: Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley and Dallas Liu as Aang, Katara, Sokka and Zuko respectively.[58] Kim felt that "this was a chance to showcase Asian and Indigenous characters as living, breathing people. Not just in a cartoon, but in a world that truly exists, very similar to the one we live in."[65] In November 2021, Daniel Dae Kim, who previously voiced General Fong in the animated series and later Hiroshi Sato in The Legend of Korra, joined the cast of the series as Fire Lord Ozai.[8] Later that month, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Lim Kay Siu, and Ken Leung joined the cast of the series, playing Iroh, Gyatso, and Commander Zhao respectively.[7] In December, Elizabeth Yu, Yvonne Chapman, Tamlyn Tomita, Casey Camp-Horinek and Maria Zhang were added to the cast, respectively playing Azula, Avatar Kyoshi, Yukari (a new character added as Suki's mother in replacement of the mayor of Kyoshi Island), Gran Gran and Suki.[12]
In April 2022, Arden Cho and Momona Tamada joined the cast as June and Ty-Lee.[34][19] Later that month, C. S. Lee was cast as Avatar Roku.[39] In June 2022, A Martinez and Amber Midthunder were cast as Master Pakku and Princess Yue respectively.[42][21] In July 2022, it was revealed that James Sie would reprise his role as the Cabbage Merchant from the animated series.[31] In September 2022, more additional roles were announced, with two of them being George Takei as the voice of Koh the Face Stealer and Randall Duk Kim as the voice of Wan Shi Tong. Takei previously voiced the Fire Nation Prison Rig Warden in the animated series, while Duk Kim had a minor role in the 2010 live-action film The Last Airbender.[66]
In September 2024, Miya Cech was announced to have joined the main cast as Toph Beifong for the second season.[11]
Filming
Production and filming began in Vancouver, British Columbia on November 16, 2021.[67][68] The series was filmed under the working titlesTrade Winds and Blue Dawn. Principal photography wrapped on June 17, 2022.[69][59][70][7][71] Stewart Whelan served as a cinematographer.[72] Shooting of season 2 began on September 16, 2024 .[73]
On February 16, 2023, it was confirmed that award-winning Japanese-American composer Takeshi Furukawa was attached to the project as its composer.[74]
Jeremy Zuckerman, who composed music for the original show, was originally set to return to compose the music for the remake[75] but later denied his involvement with the show after DiMartino and Konietzko left the project.[76] The music was recorded at Synchron Stage in Vienna with the Synchron Stage Orchestra and Choir, in addition to the score being recorded in different places, including London at Angel Studios and Budapest at East Connection Music Recording.
Marketing
Promotional poster incorporating several notable characters from the first season.
The first look of the four main characters of the series — Aang, Katara, Sokka and Zuko — was released at Netflix's Tudum fan event in June 2023, along with a teaser featuring the four elements in the show.[77] This was followed by a first look at the characters from the Fire Nation in October 2023.[78] On November 9, 2023, Netflix released the first official teaser trailer for the series.[79] The official trailer for the series was released on January 23, 2024.[80]
Release
The first season was released exclusively on Netflix on February 22, 2024, with eight episodes in total.[81][82]
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season 61% approval rating based on 82 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.0/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Avatar: The Last Airbender serves as a solid live-action entry point into the beloved franchise, although it only sporadically recaptures the magic of its source material."[83]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 55 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[84]
Jack Seale from The Guardian gave the series a positive review, saying "The landscapes sparkle, there is a giant six-legged flying bison that carries everyone spectacularly from place to place through the clouds and the young cast are up to the task."[85] Josh Yehl from IGN gave a generally positive review, saying "The live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series enriches the original story with meaningful new material, but its breakneck pacing, exposition-heavy dialogue, and hit-or-miss effects aren't precisely in balance."[86] James Marsh from the South China Morning Post gave an extremely positive review, "Hardened devotees of the source material will inevitably find minor cosmetic and composite changes to quibble about, but critics will be hard-pressed to argue against Kim and his crew's heart being in the right place."[87]
Anita Singh from The Telegraph gave a mixed response: "It's solid entertainment: fast-moving, action-packed, with decent fight scenes and some appealing performances, all done on a generous Netflix budget. Don't expect subtlety – this is aimed at children so the characters and plot are broadly drawn."[88]Variety opined that, while it wasn't as bad as the 2010 film The Last Airbender, it "will leave fans wishing the streamer had left DiMartino and Konietzko's masterpiece alone."[89] Kelly Lawler from USA Today called the show "a corrupted facsimile of the original" and claimed "it's clear after two failed attempts to tell this story in live action that the greatness of Avatar was because of its animation, not in spite of it."[90]
Viewership
Avatar: The Last Airbender topped the weekly global Netflix chart from February 19–25, with 154.4 million hours watched by 21.2 million viewers in its first week.[91] During its second week, the series remained atop but viewership decreased to 144.2 million hours watched by 19.9 million viewers and ranked among the top 10 in 92 countries and at number one in 76 countries.[92] It thus amassed 298.6 million hours watched by 41.1 million viewers in less than two weeks of its release.[93]Nielsen reported that on the "streaming charts for the week of February 19–25", Avatar: The Last Airbender was number one in the "originals" category and also number one overall "with 2.56B minutes viewed".[94]
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