Avatar Legends (formerly Avatar) is an American multimedia franchise created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. The franchise began with the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which aired on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The franchise is set in an Asian-inspired fantasy world in which some people can telekinetically manipulate (or "bend") one of the four classical elements: air, water, earth, or fire. Only the titular "Avatar" can bend all four elements and is responsible for maintaining balance in the world.
Avatar Legends is a franchise spanning works in various forms of media. A sequel animated series to Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, ran from 2012 to 2014. The storylines of both animated series have been continued in comic book form. Other franchise tie-ins include novelizations, art books, companion books, video games, and home media releases. In 2010, the 1st season of the original animated series was adapted into a live-action film titled The Last Airbender. A live-action TV series remake of the original series that's also named Avatar: The Last Airbender and is co-produced by Netflix began in 2024.
In February 2021, Nickelodeon Productions announced the formation of Avatar Studios, a division dedicated to the creation of Avatar Legends projects. The first project, an animated theatrical film titled The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, is set to release in 2026.
Premise
The franchise is set in an Asian-inspired fantasy world that is divided into four nations: the Water Tribes, the Fire Nation, the Air Nomads, and the Earth Kingdom. People of each nation are capable of telekinetically manipulating (referred to as "bending" in the franchise) one of the four elements: water, earth, fire, or air.
The titular "Avatar" is the only person who can bend all four elements, and they are responsible for maintaining spiritual and physical balance in the world. After an Avatar's death, the Avatar Spirit, Raava, is reborn into a new person of a different nation, who is the new Avatar and who must master the bending arts of the four elements, and take on their Avatar responsibilities.
Television series
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005–2008)
The first series in the franchise, Avatar: The Last Airbender follows the young Avatar Aang as he attempts to end the Fire Nation's war of conquest against the other three nations. Aang, who is the last surviving Air Nomad due to a genocide perpetrated by the Fire Nation, is joined by a teenage waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe, Katara, her non-bending brother Sokka, and later the young blind earthbending prodigy Toph, as he journeys to master bending the elements so that he can defeat the Fire Nation's leader, Fire Lord Ozai, and restore peace throughout the four nations. The series also depicts the journey of Prince Zuko, Ozai's disgraced and exiled son, as he tries to restore his honor. When Ozai exiled him, he sent him on a quest to find the Avatar, a task thought impossible at the time. Zuko stays devoted to capturing Aang throughout the first season, but would go on to join Aang’s group later in the series.
The Legend of Korra (2012–2014)
Set 70 years after the original series, The Legend of Korra follows Aang's successor as the Avatar, a waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe named Korra, who moves to the new, multi-ethnic Republic City to learn airbending from Aang's youngest son, Tenzin. She befriends a firebending and earthbending pair of brothers, Mako and Bolin, and the industrial heiress Asami Sato, and contends with a series of political upheavals, including a rising anti-bending movement, a civil war in the Water Tribes, an anarchist conspiracy, and the rise of an authoritarian government in the Earth Kingdom.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024–present)
Produced by Netflix in partnership with Nickelodeon, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a live-action adaptation of the first series by Albert Kim. Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, originally set to be the showrunners, abandoned the project due to creative differences. The first season was released on February 22, 2024, on Netflix, and consists of eight episodes.
Avatar: Seven Havens (upcoming)
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Nickelodeon and Avatar Studios have announced Avatar: Seven Havens. This upcoming 2D animated series will consist of 26 episodes, divided into two seasons, referred to as "Books." Set after the events of The Legend of Korra, Avatar: Seven Havens will follow Korra's successor as the Avatar, an earthbender joined by her long-lost twin sibling. The series is being created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who are returning as co-creators. Ethan Spaulding and Sehaj Sethi will serve as executive producers.
Films
The Last Airbender (2010)
The Last Airbender is a 2010 live-action adaptation of the first season of the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender by M. Night Shyamalan. The film was widely panned by critics and fans of the animated series, and has since been considered one of the worst films ever made and took in $319 million at the worldwide box office.
The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender (2026)
In February 2021, along with the announcement of the formation of Avatar Studios, it was reported that the studio's first project would be an animated theatrical film that would begin production later in 2021. In June 2022, it was announced that Lauren Montgomery, a former storyboard artist on Avatar and a supervising producer for Korra, would serve as director. In April 2024, Paramount revealed the film's tentative title, Aang: The Last Airbender, along with the casting of Eric Nam as Aang, Dionne Quan as Toph, Jessica Matten as Katara, Román Zaragoza as Sokka, and Dave Bautista as an antagonist. The film is set to be released theatrically on January 30, 2026 by Paramount Pictures. In April 2025, the title of the film was announced as The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender.
Comics
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2006–present)
The Last Airbender (2010)
The Legend of Korra (2016–present)
Books
Novels
Art books
Others
Video games
Soundtracks
Other media
Podcast
Avatar: Braving the Elements is a podcast by Nickelodeon in which Dante Basco, the voice actor for Prince Zuko, and Janet Varney, who voiced Korra, revisit the animated television series. The podcast's main focus are deep dives into each TV episode in chronological order; other episodes explore individual characters, important themes in the Avatar universe or the craft and artistic work which went into creating it. Varney and Basco are often joined by other people who were involved in bringing the series to life, including fellow voice actors, writers, directors, producers and the show creators themselves. Avatar: Braving the Elements has also featured fans of the show as guests and been live-recorded by its hosts at conventions. Beginning with season 3, video recordings of the podcast were uploaded to Youtube.
Tabletop roleplaying game
On July 12, 2021, Magpie Games announced that on August 3 of the same year they'd be launching a Kickstarter campaign for Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, an officially licensed tabletop roleplaying game set in the universe of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. The campaign raised USD $9.53M, becoming the most successful campaign for a tabletop game in Kickstarter's history. Pre-orders for much of the game's content opened on October 12, 2022.
Concert
In October 2023, Nickelodeon and GEA Live announced Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert, an ongoing concert tour featuring Zuckerman's score for the series. The tour was initially announced for four dates and locations in the UK, US, and France, and premiered in London, England on January 21, 2024. The concert runs for over two hours and the music is performed by an orchestral ensemble, while several moments from the series are displayed on a large screen. Zuckerman, in assistance with DiMartino, Konietzko, and original editor Jeff Adams expanded the series' score and compositions for the concert. The concert is produced by Nickelodeon, GEA Live, and Senbla.
References
External links
- Official website for Avatar Studios
