It can be hard to be an Avatar: The Last Airbender fan.
At the start, the animated series, which launched on Nickelodeon in 2005, was a breath of fresh air for children and grown-ups alike. The world that show creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko created brought together an anime style with traditional martial arts action, a rich lore of elemental magic, and a touching and often very funny coming-of-age story.
Week after week, audiences were welcomed into the inner circle of Aang, the 12-year-old air nomad/Avatar destined to save a world at war with itself. DiMartino and Konietzko balanced these high stakes with YA drama and heartwarming humor, as Aang befriended feisty waterbender Katara, her goofy but brave nonbender brother Sokka, the pugnacious and blind earthbender Toph, and eventually, the ostracized prince of the Fire Nation, a brooding Zuko. Over three seasons, this series delivered great episodes, compelling characters, and unforgettable moments.
So, when it was announced that acclaimed filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan was going to make a live-action movie based on the series, fans were initially hopeful. But I still remember the shattering disappointment of 2010’s The Last Airbender, in which they didn’t even get the pronunciation of Aang’s name right. The movie was a major misfire that hurt more than a bolt from Azula’s lightning bending.
Thankfully, 2012 brought The Legend of Korra, an animated sequel series set decades after the original, and focusing on the next Avatar. The characters in this spinoff were a bit older; the storylines were skewing more mature, reflecting the audience’s growth with the franchise. Meanwhile, comics with the original characters addressed questions the shows didn’t answer. Plus, the Kyoshi novels dove into the complicated and thrilling story of Aang’s Avatar ancestor, known for her big feet, theatrical face paint, and bold moves. (Animated adaptation when?!)
In 2018, Netflix announced a live-action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender as a series, which was to be showrun by DiMartino and Konietzko. However, both left the production over creative differences in 2020. The resulting adaptation — while fun and earnest — lacked the emotional depth of the original, and notably shaved down Katara’s rough edges to a dull effect.
Still, the animated series’ presence on Netflix sparked a renewed interest in the franchise and initiated new fans, which spurred Nickelodeon to get back into the Last Airbender business. And so comes Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, a feature-length animated sequel that fans have yearned for since Book 3 closed back in 2008.
DiMartino and Konietzko are executive producers, but only score a “story by” credit on the screenplay. At the helm is Lauren Montgomery, who was a storyboard artist on The Legend of Korra, while William Mata (Dora and the Fantastical Creatures) and Steve Ahn (The Legend of Korra) co-direct.
After all these highs and lows, can this animated movie make up for the live-action mistakes of the past? Will it make missteps all its own? Let’s get into it.
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What is Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender about?
Aang connects with his past incarnations in “Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender.”
Credit: Paramount+
Years have passed since the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s arc. Aang is a man now, and the founder of Republic City. He and Katara are not yet married with children, as we know they will be in The Legend of Korra. Far from settling down, Aang is focused on traveling to the far-flung Air Nomad temples, collecting the relics therein as he grieves his lost community. In these journeys, he learns about an artifact that could create rejuvenate the airbender community. But to secure this magical MacGuffin, he’ll need a little help from his old friends, as well as a new ally, an airbender named Tagah (voiced by Dave Bautista).
This relic ties back to a lost Avatar, known as Sonam (Freida Pinto). Like Aang, she was an airbender who feared for the future of her tribe. Here’s where wedging a prequel in between Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra gets messy, as the plot leans heavily into terrain from the latter. Sonam created a tool to turn non-benders into benders. But it’s been long lost. Reclaiming it could bring back the airbenders. But in the wrong hand, it could weaponize the disenfranchised and violently enrage non-benders. So, yip yip — it’s time for the Avatar and his friends to get moving.
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender recasts Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, and Toph.
Katara is grown up.
Credit: Paramount+
The only voices from the core cast of characters that have remained the same are Aang’s animal companions, the winged lemur Momo and the flying bison Appa, both voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. News of a recasting began circulating back in 2023, when Mae Whitman revealed she’d not be reprising the role of Katara. The effect of all these new voices is incredibly jarring — even the cabbage merchant has been replaced! Now, he’s voiced by Ken Jeong.
Recalling the memorable opening of the series, Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender begins by having the now-grown Avatar gang giving a bit of backstory as a refresher. But because they are not the voices of Whitman, Zach Tyler Eisen, Jack De Sena, Jessie Flower, and Dante Basco, viewers can’t immediately identify who’s speaking. The familiarity that fans have built with these voice actors’ performances can’t be part of the nostalgia of this film. And so, the beginning feels less like diving back into the warm waters of Avatar: The Last Airbender and more like a cold plunge.
The voice performances in the film are fine. Eric Nam offers an understandably mellower take on Aang, as the Avatar has matured and into his role as peacekeeper. Jessica Matten brings a soothing patience as Katara; Román Zaragoza taps keenly into Sokka’s bursts of frenetic energy. Dionne Quan locks into Toph’s dry humor and unbothered façade. And Steven Yeun brings poise to Zuko, who is now outwardly chill in his Firelord role. But in handing over the reigns, there is a disconnect from this retooled opening. And this disconnect burrows deeper as Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender goes on.
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender feels like an extended episode and not much else.
Appa flies the gang above the clouds.
Credit: Paramount+
To the filmmakers’ credit, Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is gorgeous. The production design elegantly weaves the worlds of the first series and its Korra-focused sequel show together. The adult designs of Aang and the gang are thoughtfully done, staying close to the original designs with small details created to show growth — like Toph’s cool new armor. But with the loss of their youth, there’s also a loss of energy.
The pace of Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is unwieldy, going from action sequences to heavy exposition drops and back again. More frustrating, Aang’s new friend Tagah gets so much screentime that fans of Sokka, Katara, Toph, and Zuko will be frustrated by their lack thereof. On one hand, this shift in focus makes sense, as Aang is desperate to reconnect to his airbender culture. However, while Bautista’s grumbling voice brings gravitas, a new bender stealing the spotlight is not likely to be what fans of this franchise were hoping for. However, each of the gang does get a spotlight moment — either in battle, strategy, or innovation — to remind us why we love them so deeply to begin with.
Sokka has a new design.
Credit: Paramount+
With high stakes and lots of action, Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender largely satisfies in terms of action spectacle. It’s a shame that Paramount is only releasing the movie in a handful of theaters before it hits the streaming service Paramount+. It’s not so much that Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender demands to be seen on the big screen, but that this fandom decades in the making deserves a proper chance to revel together in the theaters. We’re owed for the catastrophe that was Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, are we not?!
Yet even if Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender had gotten a big flashy theatrical release, it wouldn’t have been all that fans want and yearn for. The screenplay by Kenneth Lin, Tim Hedrick, and Christopher Yost is a noble imitation, but it lacks the joie de vivre of the original series. The story itself fits well within the world established by DiMartino and Konietzko, but echoes so closely to Korra’s season-long arcs that it feels shallow. Actually, Avatar Aang feels less like a movie until itself and more like a season condensed into feature-length, like The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart.
Sure, those animated series are wildly different in tone and genre. But both developed devoted fandoms who stuck around for decades, eager for whatever form the story would take next. The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart was made by Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer, the creators who started it all. And while it felt like a speedrun of a final season, it was still deeply ingrained in the story, in-jokes, and sensibility of the series it was sending off.
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is less successful here, as DiMartino and Konietzko’s lesser involvement is felt in this sequel/prequel. While the movie certainly looks stunning, the spirit of the original is flickering at best. When the familiar theme music surged, my heart surged along with it, nearly thumping along in the familiar rhythm. But despite clear efforts, Montgomery and her team don’t recapture the magic of the original.
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender opens in select theaters on July 24, then premieres on Paramount+ July 25, 2026 at 12:00 a.m. PT / 3:00 a.m. ET.
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