The gang’s all here—and that’s about all Netflix wants to show you yet. The streamer’s live-action adaptation of the beloved, animated Avatar: The Last Airbender has been in the works for over five years, with the main cast announced two whole years ago. They’ve been teasing us with images and tiny teasers, but this is the real thing: Aang, Sokka, Katara, the Fire Nation, and, importantly, a couple of very key animals make their appearances in this new trailer.
I don’t know how you can see Momo and Appa in “real life” and not have feelings about it? They’re here! They’re here! And they look a little bit weird but I think I’m okay with that! The main cast all look generally excellent, including Gordon Cormier (The Stand) as Aang; Kiawentiio (Rutherford Falls) as Katara; Ian Ousley (Physical) as Sokka; and Dallas Liu (Pen15) as Zuko. Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Uncle Iroh and Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai both make quite striking impressions here, too.
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Here’s a synopsis for you:
The four nations of the world once lived in harmony, with the Avatar, master of all four elements, keeping peace between them. But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked and wiped out the Air Nomads, the first step taken by the firebenders towards conquering the world. Avatar: The Last Airbender follows a young Air Nomad named Aang, as he reawakens to a world ravaged by war. Together with his newfound friends Sokka and Katara, he embarks on an action-packed quest to take his rightful place as the next Avatar.
There is, of course, one major wrinkle in Netflix’s Avatar project: The absence of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, creators of the original Avatar animated series, who were involved in this project early on but then departed. The series is in the hands of showrunner and executive producer Albert Kim (Sleepy Hollow); episode directors include Michael Goi (American Horror Story), Jabbar Raisani (Lost in Space), Roseanne Liang (Creamerie), and Jet Wilkinson (Jessica Jones).
Avatar: The Last Airbender premieres on Netflix on February 22, 2024.
