The Last Airbender, the first in a planned trilogy, came out in theaters in 2010, hoping to replicate the success of Nickelodeon‘s iconic animated show. Unfortunately, the film’s critical failure ensures that the next two films never happened. A decade, a controversial animated sequel series, and several more canon books later and Netflix finally gave the series the live action treatment it deserves.
Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender topped streaming charts in its premiere last February 22. It wasn’t perfect, by any means. It was flawed and divisive, but it was better than expected, posting massive numbers, and catapulting some of its stars towards mainstream success.
Two weeks after premiering, we finally know that Netflix intends to see its take on the source material to fruition.
The Avatar will return. AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER Seasons 2 & 3. Only on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/sUnY5w6Jgf
— Avatar: The Last Airbender (@AvatarNetflix) March 6, 2024
The great thing about adapting something already finished is the showrunners won’t run out of material anytime soon. While Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix has taken certain creative liberties, it’s as close as a one-for-one adaptation can get. By renewing the show for two more seasons, Netflix ensures seasonal parity with the animated show. This avoids problems such as artificially lengthening the story. The writers already know how the story goes and how it ends, making it easier to focus on things like improving the quality of the CGI effects, especially as the battles in the upcoming seasons grow in number.
One can only imagine how much work will be required to adapt the climactic showdown between Fire Lord Ozai and Aang. Since the show doesn’t have to worry about trying to go on indefinitely and worrying if it might get canceled midway, it becomes easier to allocate more budget towards the necessary improvements.
Toph Beifong’s debut, in particular, will be one to watch out for. In the animated show, her debut episode in Episode 6 of Season 2 sticks out as one of the best introductions in the series. It perfectly encapsulated what made Toph the perfect earth bending teacher for Aang and why she’s widely considered one of the show’s best characters.
Unfortunately, Netflix didn’t confirm the release dates of Seasons 2 and 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. However, the dual confirmation suggests filming of both seasons will be taking place close to each other, presumably to make sure that the actors don’t age out of their current appearances – a problem that Netflix faced with its flagship show, Stranger Things.
It’s unclear if Netflix has plans of adapting materials beyond Book Two: Earth and Book Three: Fire but in case the streaming giant sees potential beyond its current plans, it won’t be facing any shortage of materials anytime soon.
