Avatar: The Last Airbender head Brian Konietzko, who co-created the acclaimed animated fantasy series with Michael Dante DiMartino, has addressed the franchise’s complicated future.
The hit animated show spawned a successful multimedia franchise that includes a comic book series, an animated prequel series, a much-maligned live-action movie adaptation, and a Netflix live-action series. Considered among the most influential TV shows, the future of Avatar: The Last Airbender has been unclear in recent years, with Konietzko opening up on this uncertainty.
Taking to Instagram, Konietzko posted an image from the back cover of Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 3 soundtrack, showing Zuko standing in a pose outside the Fire Nation Temple, with flames shooting from his fists. He went on to compare the image to what he has to put up with behind the scenes, fighting for the franchise, before giving fans a ray of hope regarding the game.
Konietzko began by introducing the post and crediting those who were involved. “This is my favorite piece from this vinyl series. Illustration by me using an awesome Avatar Studios Zuko pose by @cteec Christie Tseng, Fire Nation Palace production design by Jevon Bue, and production BG painting by Bryan Evans.“
He then dubbed the image a metaphor for his continual fight for the franchise’s future, claiming that he has to deal with “thieves” in his fight to progress the franchise. “This doubles as an illustration of me, behind the scenes every day, working on new Avatar content, fighting for the Avatar franchise, dealing with messes left over by thieves, not always at liberty to air our business and my grievances on social media.“
He then, interestingly, came out on the defensive, claiming that the canceled Avatar: The Last Airbender RPG video game has not actually been canceled but has undergone a setback, and he is hopeful it will happen eventually. “That big video game—the premise of which I came up with—wasn’t “canceled.” Did it experience a big setback? Yep. These things are not easy (none of this is). Will it ever happen? Hopefully.” He then concludes that lots of news will be shared soon, which may be announced by San Diego Comic-Con.
That big video game—the premise of which I came up with—wasn’t “canceled.” Did it experience a big setback? Yep. These things are not easy (none of this is). Will it ever happen? Hopefully. Will it be better because of the reset? If I have anything to do with it, most definitely. Is that all frustrating for you and me? Yep. But if you can ignore the chatter and hang in there a bit longer, we’ll have lots of *official* news to share soon. Hope to see you at SDCC, friends…
Konietzko’s comments are not the first time someone involved in the Avatar franchise has been outspoken about its prospects. Recently, Avatar star Greg Baldwin took to social media to aim Paramount and its handling of the franchise, including the status of the RPG game, but it seems this might have been premature.
While Baldwin’s scorn for Paramount seems to be shared by Konietzko and much of the Avatar: The Last Airbender fanbase, the game might not be dead in the water just yet. The fact that Konietzko refuses to rule out the game being canceled bodes well for the possibility of getting a new Avatar project somewhere down the line.
However, it is worth noting that he cast a seed of doubt over whether he will be involved in the project’s future, meaning nothing is definitive at this stage, and further projects could depend on the success of upcoming prequel movie The Legend of Aang. For now, it seems like audiences will have to make do with the Avatar: The Last Airbender fighting game, which is set for release at some point in 2026.
Elsewhere, season 2 of the live-action Avatar TV series is also set for a return, which could drive more projects forward in the franchise, but it is unlikely that this show will reach the heights of the animated show. Konietzko and DiMartino’s iconic show remains one of the most influential series of all time, and as long as he remains involved in its future, Avatar: The Last Airbender still has life as a franchise.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
9/10
- Release Date
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2005 – 2008
- Network
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Nickelodeon
- Showrunner
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Michael Dante DiMartino
- Directors
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Giancarlo Volpe, Ethan Spaulding, Lauren MacMullan, Dave Filoni, Joaquim Dos Santos, Anthony Lioi