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Avatar: The Last Airbender (franchise)

Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American multimedia franchise created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. The franchise began with the Avatar: The Last Airbender which aired on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The series 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.

Since its original release, Avatar has developed into a franchise spanning works in various media. A sequel animated television series, The Legend of Korra, aired on Nickelodeon from 2012 to 2014 and has since expanded into its own sub-franchise. 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 original animated series was adapted into a live-action film titled The Last Airbender. A live-action remake of the original series, produced by Netflix, was released in 2024.

In February 2021, Nickelodeon announced the formation of Avatar Studios, a division dedicated to the creation of animated projects set in the world of Avatar. The first project, an animated theatrical film, 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 is reborn into a new person of a different nation, who must learn their bending skills anew and take on their Avatar responsibilities.

Avatar Studios

In February 2021, ViacomCBS announced Avatar Studios, a new division of Nickelodeon centered on developing animated series and films set in the Avatar universe. The division is helmed by original series creators DiMartino and Konietzko, who are its co-chief creative officers and report to Nickelodeon Animation Studio president Ramsey Ann Naito.

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 once and for all. The series also depicts the journey of Prince Zuko, Ozai's disgraced and exiled son, as he tries to restore his honor. He initially tried to hunt down Aang to bring him to his father, but he later joins the Avatar's group on their journey.

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)

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.

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.

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 20, 2026 by Paramount Pictures.

Comics

Avatar: The Last Airbender (2006–present)

The Last Airbender (2010)

The Legend of Korra (2016–present)

Books

Novels

Art books

Others

Video games

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.

Podcast

Avatar: Braving the Elements (2021–present)

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.