It’s been four long years since The Legend of Korra brought a thrilling finale to the saga that began over a decade earlier with The Last Airbender. Back in 2014, the show’s creators made it pretty clear that they had no plans to continue the series with a third Avatar, but maybe that’s no longer the case.
The Complete Book 3 Collection's cover features Avatar Aang in the foreground with a depiction of Fire Lord Ozai's face in the background. Book Three: Fire (火) is the title of the third and final season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, and the sequel to Book Two: Earth. Feb 09, 2011 With Ozai defeated, the war quickly ends. Zuko is crowned the new Fire Lord and, with the help of the Avatar and his friends, begins rebuilding the four nations. The series ends as Aang and Katara kiss beneath the sunset. Sep 07, 2018 In an interview with, Aaron Ehasz (head writer for Avatar: The Last Airbender) and Giancarlo Volpe (who directed 19 episodes of the series), and Justin Richmond (director of Uncharted 3) about. Avatar: The Last Airbender (also known as Avatar: The Legend of Aang) is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon. The series was created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who served as executive producers along with Aaron Ehasz. Avatar is set in an Asian-influenced world of Chinese martial arts and elemental manipulation.
In an interview with, Aaron Ehasz (head writer for Avatar: The Last Airbender) and Giancarlo Volpe (who directed 19 episodes of the series), and Justin Richmond (director of Uncharted 3) about Wonderstorm’s new series The Dragon Prince, we couldn’t help but ask about the possibility of new Avatar episodes. The answer was surprisingly candid — and optimistic.
“I’m with the fans,” Ehasz says. “I would be thrilled if there was another series. I know there’d be a lot of people who’d be thrilled.” However, he couched his statement with an admission, simply stating, “I don’t know.”
Then Volpe chimes in, even more hopeful than Ehasz.
“If they’re bringing back Murphy Brown, why not bring back Avatar?” he asks. “It’s obviously not my call, but my opinion is there’s room in the world for more Avatar.”
“I think it would be very easy to do a Murphy Brown crossover,” Ehasz jokes.
Of course, at the end of the day the decision to bring back Avatar belongs to the show’s creators, Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino (along with Nickelodeon, which owns the rights). Similarly, when it comes to series lore, only those two really have the answers.
For example, when we brought up this iconic question about the source of bending powers originally posed by Serena Williams (the tennis pro and Avatar fan who voiced several minor roles in the series), Ehasz deferred to “Mike and Brian” before offering an answer of his own.
“I’m speculating,” he says, “but, you know, mythology is complicated and when you have people in a world with stories of where power came from, there are going to be different versions of the story and they might all be true. One story may just represent one part of the actual history.”
For context, another Avatar fan responded to Williams’ original tweet to explain that while bending powers were gifted to humanity by the mythic Sea Lion Turtle, humans then looked to other animals for inspiration while they were honing this new skill.
Assuming that a third Avatar series never happens (though it very well might), we’re stuck with our two current Avatars: Aang and Korra. But which one of them would win in a fight? Well, here’s what the Last Airbender director has to say.
“Right out the gate, Korra would start to win because she embraced fighting and would probably fluster Aang with her love of violence — she would kick him in the balls,” Volpe tells Inverse. “But I think at the end of the battle Aang would pull out some sort of pacifist trick that would calm her down, like, ‘Why are we fighting in the first place?’”
To be fair, Volpe is a bit biased, as is Ehasz, who seems to quietly agree. After all, the two of them only worked on The Last Airbender, moving on before the series returned with Legend of Korra. But perhaps if Avatar does come back for a third series, we can get a hero somewhere in between Korra and Aang. One who prefers peace over violence, but isn’t afraid to kick their opponent in the balls either if it comes down to it.
Honestly, at this point, we’d take any version of the Avatar if it means new episodes, and, clearly, we’re not alone.
The Dragon Prince hits Netflix on September 14. Stay tuned for more original coverage from Inverse, coming soon.
© Nickelodeon Animation Studios Aang and Korra of 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' and 'The Legend of Korra.' Nickelodeon Animation StudiosKiss Cartoon Avatar Season 3 Ep 1
- Cartoon favorite 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' hit Netflix on May 15.
- The series' availability on the streaming platform sparked a new wave of discussion about it on social media, reviving a debate about its sequel series, 'The Legend of Korra.'
- While some revived arguments about why 'Korra' didn't live up to its predecessor, many jumped on the trending tag on Twitter to express support for the series.
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Beloved animated series 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' hit Netflix in its three-season entirety on May 15, making the cartoon more widely accessible than its been in years. 15 years after the series' debut on Nickelodeon in 2005, its fandom is still alive and thriving, and took to Twitter over the weekend to discuss favorite moments from the series as people began to rewatch — or watch for the first time — the show on Netflix. Of course, that also meant reviving old fandom debates tying into 'Avatar's' sequel series, 'The Legend of Korra,' leading to #Korra trending in the United States on May 19.
'The Legend of Korra' aired on Nickelodeon (with later seasons being released exclusively online) from 2012 to 2014. The series takes place 70 years after the conclusion of 'Avatar' and follows the next Avatar in the cycle: Korra, a brash and sometimes overconfident 17-year-old from the Southern Water Tribe. Given the time jump, the world of Korra is more modern, featuring pro-bending matches, car chases, and plenty of cheesy radio announcers in the thriving, diverse setting of Republic City.
Old questions about whether 'Korra' was a better the series than the original 'Avatar' reemerged, as did the classic debate about whether Aang or Korra was the better Avatar. Backlash against 'Korra' is far from new: there were video essays that emerged in the years following 'Korra's' conclusion criticizing the series and calling it 'garbage,' and the show's groundbreaking, queer finale was met with cries of fan service and claims that the relationship between Korra and Asami wasn't well-developed.
On Twitter, people began to voice old wishes that the 'Avatar' creators would have continued telling Aang's story, rather than moving on to Korra's.
Kiss Anime Avatar Season 2
—Shonen Clout (@shonenclout) May 18, 2020
Much criticism was focused on how the series measured up to its predecessor, with some saying that it was 'trash compared to atla' or that it 'ruined Avatar lore.' As the discourse began to gain traction, however, Twitter was flooded with messages of support for the sequel series, with many reliving their favorite moments, characters, and fight scenes.
Kiss Cartoon Avatar Season 3 Episode 12
—jay (@mutatxon) May 19, 2020
—David (@thedaviddoes) May 19, 2020
—alex ◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜ (@alex_leland_) May 19, 2020
Legend Of Korra Season 3 Kiss Cartoon
Netflix even got in on the debate, weighing in with fans in the replies to its tweet about Korra's story (even though 'Korra' isn't available on the platform.)
—NX (@NXOnNetflix) May 19, 2020
—NX (@NXOnNetflix) May 19, 2020
It doesn't seem like the 'Avatar' vs. 'Korra' debate is going to die down any time soon. What is clear, however, are the lasting impacts that both series had on the animation landscape. Just as 'Avatar' set a precedent for cartoons in the 2010s (including its sequel), 'Korra' was an early step towards more LGBTQ characters in cartoon series like 'Steven Universe' or 'She-Ra and the Princesses of Power' in the years to come.
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