New ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Live-Action Series Begins Production in 2019

Avatar: The Last Airbender remains one of the most popular Nickelodeon projects from the network, and soon the series will be making another attempt at live-action with a new series coming to Netflix.

But how soon will fans get to see the new series for themselves? Production of the new live-action series has been confirmed to begin in 2019.

In a press release for the series, the new project confirmed that the series would start its production in 2019, and will even have original creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko on board as showrunners and executive producers. The series will be exclusive to Netflix, in partnership with Nickelodeon, and it’s setting out to be a much different affair than the last live-action offering.

Though there are currently no other concrete details as to what the new series will entail, or when exactly in 2019 production will begin, there is a palpable desire to correctly adapt the series into live-action because of the previous maligned effort.

A live-action The Last Airbender had previously been attempted shortly after the end of the original series in 2010. It was directed by M. Night Shyamalan, but was panned by both fans of the series and critics for its failure to capture the essence of the original series. Attempting to adapt the first season of the series into a single film, the live-action project took too much on and it was noticed by the audience.

But with the original creators of the series acting as showrunners for the new live-action project (and a desire to provide a more diverse cast than the live-action film), fans will have much to look forward to when the series finally premieres.

Avatar: The Last Airbender was originally created by Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko for Nickelodeon in 2005. The series is set in world people can manipulate the elements of Earth, Water, Fire, and Air, and they lived peacefully in different regions until one of the regions started a world war. One master who can manipulate all four elements, dubbed the “Avatar,” had been able to prevent this war, but disappeared soon after. 100 years later, a new Avatar named Aang awakens and sets out on a journey to master all the elements in order to bring peace to the land once more.

The series became famous for its heavy anime influences and well-crafted narrative, and has spawned comics, video games, a sequel in The Legend of Korra, and even a live-action film directed by M. Night Shyamalan.