Nickelodeon Is Expanding ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Into An Entire Universe, Complete With An Upcoming Film
The Avatarverse is back to the rescue!
The animated series brought to fans by Nickelodeon is officially being expanded into Avatar Studio, a new division planning to create original content related to the world’s first seen in Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Nickelodeon announced on Wednesday during ViacomCBS’ Investor Day presentation that the show’s original creators and executive producers Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko will pave the way.
Avatar Studio has big plans for its universe.
Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko will lead the new studio as co-chief creative officers. Fortunately, they already have a project in the works. The new project is an animated theatrical film that will kick off production this year.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 19 years since we created Avatar: The Last Airbender,” DiMartino and Konietzko said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. “But even after all that time, there are still many stories and time periods in Aang’s world that we are eager to bring to life. We are fortunate to have an ever-growing community of passionate fans that enjoys exploring the Avatarverse as much as we do.”
“And with this new Avatar Studios venture we have an unparalleled opportunity to develop our franchise and its storytelling on a vast scale, in myriad exciting ways and mediums,” they added. “We are exceedingly grateful to [Nickelodeon president] Brian Robbins and [president of Nickelodeon Animation] Ramsey Naito for their enthusiasm and respect for the Avatar property and us as its stewards. From the start, they’ve supported our ambitious plans and created a positive, proactive environment for us.”
“We’re excited to be back at Nickelodeon where Avatar began, doing what we do best in the biggest way possible,” the finished. “We can’t wait to build the great teams and productions to make all of this fantasy a reality.”
Avatar The Last Airbender, ran on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008 and followed the quest of a young monk named Aang to master his powers and save the world. The show was an Emmy- and Peabody-winning series loved by fans for its storytelling and world-building which were heavily influenced by Asian and Indigenous cultures. In 2012 it inspired the series The Legend of Korra.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the studio’s projects will debut on Paramount+, ViacomCBS’ subscription video on-demand service as well as in theaters.