What We Know About The Return Of ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’
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It has been nearly a decade since we last enjoyed the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA) when The Legend of Korra ended in 2014. Since then, fans have had to endure reruns, comics, graphic novels, and recently books to get their fill of the universe that gave rise to Aang and Korra. Hopefully, they will not have to wait much more.
Last year, it was announced that the original creators, who have left the Netflix live-action remake show over creative differences, have signed a deal with Nickelodeon to form their own studio and exclusively create new stories within the ATLA universe. Now, it has been announced that they are creating a trilogy of movies set within the ATLA universe. So let’s take a look at what we know.
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Three New Movies
The new movies will focus on three different characters. One of them is someone we have only seen briefly through Aang’s connection with his ancestral avatars, Avatar Kyoshi. The other two films are reported to focus on Zuko and Korra. There is a bookshelf’s worth of extended universe work for creators to draw from. However, while they will draw inspiration from those works, they will not necessarily be adapting them into a film format.
Kyoshi Movie
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According to AvatarNews.co a trailer was actually shown at Annoy International Animation Film Festival depicting an earth kingdom fortress, perhaps the one visited by Team Avatar at the beginning of Season 2, along with the words “The Avatar returns” followed by the earthbending symbol. This supposedly confirms that the first of the three movies will be a Kyoshi movie. From the new Avatar Studios’ Instagram account, The Legend of Korra veteran Lauren Montgomery will direct the upcoming film that is currently scheduled for release in 2024. There are plenty of materials for Montgomery to draw from, like the Kyoshi origin novels The Rise of Kyoshi and The Shadow of Kyoshi.
Zuko Movie
During the same festival, it was confirmed that the second movie will be about Zuko. There was not much revealed about the Zuko movie, other than the release date of 2025. It is likely this film will take place after the 100 Years War and explore something along the lines of Zuko trying to become Fire Lord without turning into his father, as well as his relationship with his sister Azula. Both themes have been frequently explored in the comics.
Korra Movie
We do know the third of the announced movies is to focus on Avatar Korra and will be released in 2026. Supposedly, it is set after the last scene of the series when Korra and Asami held hands and started to kiss as they entered the Spirit Realm for a vacation. Just as the other films have a wide range of stories to pull from, Korra herself has several comics that explore more of her story from which to draw inspiration.
Other Upcoming Avatar News
The jump into novels with the Kyoshi novels continues with a new book exploring the last avatar to be an Airbender, Yangchen. The last we saw of Avatar Yangchen was in the finale of Avatar: The Last Airbender when Aang connected with his former lives to get advice on how to deal with Fire Lord Ozai. The new novel explores Yangchen having to live in the shadow created by her predecessor, Avatar Szeto. In doing so, she finds herself in the Earth Kingdom, dealing with corruption and the discovery of a weapon of mass destruction. The Dawn of Yangchen will be released on July 19th.
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Source(s): Avatar News