Written by Mateo Biggs
“Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.” This is a saying that many of us know by heart – something that reminds us of a time when we would run to the television, when commercials were used as a timer to get other things done, when school wasn’t weighing us down and when the only due dates we cared about were the ones for the library books we had checked out.
“Avatar: The Last Airbender” is a show that has fostered many different people’s creativity and friendships because of how big of a deal it was for them. A lot of people can remember getting onto the computer to take the “What Bender Are You?” quiz or playing make-believe with their friends as they pretended to bend the elements or even be the Avatar. It was a show beyond its years, teaching many the importance of looking beyond what someone appears to be and of remaining honest to yourself. “ATLA” was a show that many people can admit was a huge part of their lives growing up and something they continuously go back to, watching it over and over to relive the nostalgia it brings them.
After the 2010 “The Last Airbender” movie, a lot of fans can agree that a live-action version of the beloved animated series might not be the best way to go – especially when the series seemed to close on a good note for both the original and even the follow-up series “The Legend of Korra.” However, we all remember the slight scare that came in 2018 when Netflix briefly tried to create another live action movie, only for plans to fall through when “ATLA” creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko dropped out of the project. That seemed to be the end of that.
That is until last month, when Nickelodeon announced the launch of “Avatar Studios.” This will be a new branch of Nickelodeon that will expand the universe of the Avatar series and focus exclusively on the revitalization of the beloved series. It will stick to Paramount Plus, a premier broadcasting application that will debut on Mar. 4 in an attempt to compete with Disney+. Besides the fact that the original series’ creators will be working closely on the project, not much else is known about this latest “ATLA” development, but many fans will be excited to know that the Avatar will return.
