This week, Netflix dropped a full trailer for Avatar: The Last Airbender, its live-action remake of the beloved Netflix animated show. Take a look:
The Last Airbender is about a young man named Aang who has the power to control the air. He’s the last person alive who can do that, making him — say it with me — the last airbender. In this world, which is inspired by various East Asian cultures, there are various people who can control each of the four elements: earth, air, water and fire. Aang is the Avatar, who can control all four. It’s his responsibility to maintain balance between the four nations of the world, but he’s been MIA for a long time. When he comes to, the world is in chaos. Nothing an epic adventure won’t solve.
So that’s the plot. People love the original show, but there was no guarantee that this remake would be any good. There still isn’t, but after this trailer I’m feeling a lot more hopeful, because it’s quite beautiful. Let’s take a closer look.
Visit the four nations of Avatar: The Last Airbender
We start with a shot of a battle at night. It’s hard to make out, but I think this must be the Fire Nature attacking the Northern Water Tribe, which happens at the end of the first season of the original show:
From the end we go to the beginning, when Aang is found frozen in an iceberg by members of the Southern Water Tribe:
Those members are a waterbender named Katara (Kiawentiio Tarbell)…
…and her brother Sokka (Ian Ousley), who is keeping his hair very tightly combed:
From there, we travel to what looks like the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu, where Aang meets up with an old friend pretty early in the story:
Next we meet one of the most popular characters from the saga: Zuko, a prince of the Fire Nation who is on the hunt for the Avatar. He’s played by Dallas Liu:
As fans of the original show will know, Zuko is no good without his kindly Uncle Iroh (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), who keeps his hot-headed nephew’s temper in check:
It looks like we’re visit the Fire Nation itself in the first season of the remake. This looks like Firelord Ozai’s throne room:
I don’t know how Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim) can stand to sit in this room for very long:
As you can see, Netflix is reproducing the look of the original series pretty faithfully in live-action, and there’s more to come:
Romance, the Avatar State, and an Agni Kai in the trailer for Avatar: The Last Airbender
Here we have Suki (Maria Zhang) a member of the Kyoshi Warriors. She and Sokka have a thing in the original show. It looks like that will carry over to the remake:
And here are the Kyoshi Warriors training to be badass:
Here’s Aang hang-gliding to Crescent Island, where he gets in touch with the spirit of his predecessor Avatar Roku. Remember that Aang is an airbender; with the right tools, he can basically fly.
At long last, here’s a clear shot of Aang, played by Gordon Cormier:
Aang mourns over a broken forest. Aang has a gentle soul and is very upset by loss of life. This could be the moment when he finds the remains of the Southern Air Temple.
Here we see two Firebenders going at it. This could be the battle between Firelord Ozai and his son Zuko, a formative moment for the young prince.
Speaking of Zuko, here’s him and Iroh back to back ready to get down to business.
Back to Aang, he looks like he’s about to enter the Avatar State, when his powers are at their height. If only he could control when it happens.
Finally, we get a couple of shots of the group flying on the back of Appa, Aang’s flying bison:
Overall, I think the trailer looks great! Everything looks big and bright, the casting it on point, it looks like Netflix spent money on this. We’ll have to wait until it premieres to be certain, but I think this might turn out alright.
Avatar: The Last Airbender drops on Netflix on February 22. We don’t yet know if every episode will drop at once or if they’re space them out.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels