Nickelodeon is officially reviving the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender with the newly-announced Avatar Studios, which means we'll soon be blessed with more animated content!
Even better news, Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the original creators and executive producers of Avatar as well as The Legend of Korra, have signed on to serve as co-chief creative officers of Avatar Studios.
Are we screaming yet?
"Avatar: The Last Airbender and Korra have grown at least ten-fold in popularity since their original hit runs on Nickelodeon, and Ramsey Naito and I are incredibly excited to have Mike and Bryan’s genius talent on board to helm a studio devoted to expanding their characters and world into new content and formats for fans everywhere," said Brian Robbins, President of ViacomCBS Kids & Family, in a statement. "Creator-driven stories and characters have long been the hallmarks of Nickelodeon, and Avatar Studios is a way to give Mike and Bryan the resources and runway to open up their imaginations even more and dive deeper into the action and mythology of Avatar as we simultaneously expand upon that world and the world of content available on Paramount+ and Nickelodeon."
You might remember DiMartino and Konietzko were originally part of a live-action Avatar adaption over at Netflix. They departed from the project last summer, seemingly over creative differences. "Even an Air Nomad knows when it’s time to cut their losses and move on,” they wrote at the time. The Netflix project is still moving forward without DiMartino and Konietzko attached.
So with Avatar Studios, will we get a continuation of the original series? Movies? Episodes? A spinoff? All of the above? No way to know just yet, but Variety reports "the first project under the studio banner is an original animated theatrical film to begin production this year."
Here's to hoping it'll include more LGBTQ+ characters! We'd even take an expansion of Korra and Asami's storyline? Give us something!
Whenever it's complete, Avatar Studios content will likely premiere on Paramount Plus as well as Nickelodeon’s digital platforms, and perhaps even theaters and other streaming platforms.
