Avatar: The Last Airbender creators have big ideas for expanded universe

With a recent resurgence in popularity and Nickelodeon’s announcement of an expanded universe on the way, it’s an exciting time to be a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Although the series ended its run back in 2008, it has remained a beloved part of the pop culture landscape, given a boost by the arrival of The Legend of Korra arrived in 2012.

For years, The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra have been the only onscreen stories in the Avatar universe (not counting the widely criticized live-action film), but that’s about to change. Through Avatar Studios, series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino will tell brand new tales in this world, spanning both films and television shows.

Apart from a new theatrical animated movie, Nickelodeon has kept its plans for expanding The Last Airbender universe mostly under wraps, but Konietzko and DiMartino hinted at some big ideas during a recent appearance on the Avatar: Braving the Elements podcast. The pair alluded to planning multiple projects, all of which will be unique and potentially tie into one another. According to Konietzko, they’re playing the long game when it comes to these stories, all with the intention of looking at the world of Avatar through different perspectives:

"It’s a long plan, and again, it is multi-tiered. And what’s neat is that we want each of these projects to have its own feeling, its own tone, and look. And so, it will all feel true to the Avatar world, but they will all be very different expressions of it, so it will really deepen it and expand it."

Avatar: The Last Airbender creators have big plans that will “take some time” to execute

Of course, bringing an expanded universe from concept to completion is no simple feat. DiMartino acknowledged that it won’t happen overnight, suggesting fans may have to wait a while to see their plans unfold in their entirety:

"We’re coming in now and we have unprecedented support from Nickelodeon, so it is the franchise, the shows and animated stuff, but also other stuff beyond, in publishing, and in podcasts like you’re doing and all that stuff. Looking at this giant picture, we’re not like, ‘Oh, we have all these ideas. Maybe we’ll get to make one of them.’ But it’s like, we have all these ideas, and ideally we’ll get to, over the years, explore all of them and get to make them. But it’ll take some time. If we make all this stuff, you guys will just be podcasting for about the next 20 years or so."

And just how many shows are we talking about here? Konietzko didn’t give an exact number, but it sounds like they’re aiming high. “Each of these projects [has] its own feeling, its own tone and look, so it will all feel true to the Avatar world, but they will all be very different expressions of it so it will really deepen it and expand it,” he said.

All of this gives The Last Airbender fans something to look forward to, especially since there’s been little news regarding Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the show. Whether the new additions to this universe will be worth the wait is another story, but the creators seem committed to improving upon the original subject matter — and that’s a promising start.

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