While the live action versions of Avatar: The Last Airbender have largely disappointed and seen turmoil in various forms, the animated version of the Nickelodeon show is beloved years after it and its follow-up The Legend Of Korra have left the air.
Both Avatar and Korra remain popular years after their runs ended on the children’s cable giant. The two hitting Netflix, for example, saw the titles atop the platform’s most-watched shows for weeks last summer. Which is why news that an animated film and more series are in the works is sure to make a lot of bending fans very happy.
Deadline reported on Thursday that new series and films in the “Avatar Airbender universe” are on the way, and likely coming to Nickelodeon once they’re fully fleshed out.
In an interview with Deadline tied to the Nickelodeon upfront presentation, the network president Brian Robbins lifted the veil a bit on the plans for the franchise beyond the first feature announced at the ViacomCBS Streaming Event presentation.
“We are in the early stages of developing and exploring what we are calling an entire Avatar Airbender universe,” he said. “Mike and Bryan are hard at work, and I think that universe will encompass definitely a theatrical film, animation, certainly multiple TV series and probably multiple films. I think we will be ready very soon to tell the world what is coming first but we are not there yet because we’re in early stages of creative development.”
That’s certainly good news considering how well The Legend of Korra stood up to the original series in quality while also expanding the show’s universe significantly. And while that sounds like a whole lot of, well, content, the show has proven it can tell a multitude of stories over several different eras and generations in the show’s larger universe.
One potential downside to all this news, though, is that the animated versions seem destined for streaming services other than Netflix. While that’s where the live-action Avatar series will be, according to the report Robbins hinted that the animated content is likely to roll out on platforms like Paramount+ and the more traditional Nickelodeon cable channel.
