Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 TV Series
Avatar: The Last Airbender, also known as Avatar: The Legend of Aang, is an upcoming American adventure fantasy television series. It is a live-action adaptation of the animated television series of the same name (2005–2008). First announced in September 2018, Albert Kim is set to be the showrunner, with an ensemble cast including Gordon Cormier, Dallas Liu, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Elizabeth Yu and Daniel Dae Kim.
The series is scheduled to premiere on February 22, 2024, on Netflix and will consist of eight episodes.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 TV Series
STORY
The series is set in a war-torn world inspired by Asian and Indigenous American culture 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 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.
CAST
- Gordon Cormier as 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 is sent on a quest to end the war and become the figurehead of balance and harmony for the world as the Avatar.
- 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.
- Kiawentiio as Katara: A fourteen-year-old who is the last waterbender of her 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.
- 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.
- Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as General Iroh: A retired Fire Nation general, Fire Lord Ozai’s older brother, and the wise and nurturing uncle and mentor to Zuko.
- Elizabeth Yu as Princess Azula: The cunning and prodigiously gifted Princess of the Fire Nation and Prince Zuko’s younger sister.
- Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai: The tyrannical and sadistic ruler of the Fire Nation, General Iroh’s younger brother, and Prince Zuko and Princess Azula’s father. Kim had lent his voice to the Avatar franchise multiple times—the first time in Book 2 of The Last Airbender, where he voiced General Fong, and in The Legend of Korra, where he voiced Hiroshi Sato.
PRODUCTION
Development
In 2018, Netflix announced that a “reimagined” live-action remake of Avatar was to start production in 2019. The series’ original creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, were initially announced to be the executive producers and showrunners. 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; the duo ultimately received writing credits for the first and sixth episodes. 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.” 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.
It was reported that each episode cost more than $15 million to make, with eight episodes per season.
RELEASE
February 22, 2024
