Classic Animation Goes Live-Action In Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender Trailer

"Avatar: The Last Airbender" is one of the most beloved American animated shows ever. This is a show that voice actor Mark Hamill once considered "too smart" to be a success, yet it was not only successful enough to get three seasons, it also got a popular sequel series. "The Last Airbender" gave young audiences an anime-inspired show that told a serialized story while still having standout standalone episodes. It introduced kids to a vast and rich fantasy world with lore and history on the level of big franchises like "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings." 

It also managed to end on its own terms, with a masterpiece of a series finale that paid off details planned from the very beginning, without giving fans a clean and overly explained ending. The sequel, "The Legend of Korra," doubled down on the complex themes of "The Last Airbender" and used complex and layered villains to explore political themes without talking down to its young audience.

Now, over a decade after M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender" live-action movie, Netflix is about to come out with its own live-action remake of the beloved cartoon, "Avatar: The Last Airbender" (yes, still titled exactly the same as the original). Showrunner Albert Kim ("Sleepy Hollow") helms the 8-episode first season, set to adapt the first season of the original. The episodes will be directed by the likes of Michael Goi ("Swamp Thing," "Riverdale"), and Roseanne Liang ("Shadow in the Cloud").

Jeremy Zuckerman, the composer of the original show's iconic score, was supposed to return for the remake, but he later departed the project after the original creators left. Japanese-American composer Takeshi Furukawa composed the new score.

There is plenty of reason to be skeptical about the Netflix adaptation of "The Last Airbender," even beyond just being against live-action remakes in general. While the "One Piece" live-action was rather successful, that show had the manga's creator Eiichiro Oda heavily involved in production.

When it comes to "The Last Airbender," original series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino left the project in 2020 over creative differences with Netflix. We don't exactly know what Konietzko and DiMartino wanted to do with their version and how it differed with Netflix's wishes, but it is nevertheless a big shame that the original creators are no longer involved — though they are credited with writing the first episode.

But there is a silver lining — a huge one, in fact. Konietzko and DiMartino may not be working on a remake of their own story, but in the aftermath of their departure, Nickelodeon founded Avatar Studios, created solely to produce more "Avatar" stories. The first of these is a movie set to arrive in 2025, but there are several other movies and TV shows set across different eras of the "Last Airbender" timeline in different stages of production. In other words, we won't be without "Avatar" for long.

As for the Live-action remake, "Avatar: The Last Airbender" stars Gordon Cormier as the titular Avatar Aang. Kiawentiio and Ian Ousley play Katara and Sokka, respectively. On the Fire Nation side, Dallas Liu plays Zuko, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee plays Uncle Iroh, and Daniel Dae Kim plays Fire Lord Ozai.

"Avatar: The Last Airbender" arrives on Netflix on February 22, 2024.