Avatar: Seven Havens, the new series set in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, released its first three episodes on Paramount+ on Friday, October 9. That same day, the show's creative team stopped by New York Comic Con for a panel moderated by Janet Varney, the voice of the title character in The Legend of Korra.
Avatar: The Last Airbender co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who currently serve as the executive producers of Seven Havens, were in attendance for the panel, alongside Seven Havens executive producer Ethan Spaulding and co-executive producer Sehaj Sethi.
About halfway through the panel, three voice cast members also joined, including Saheli Khan (Pavi), Aishu Devan (Nisha), and Major Curda (Jae). The panel offered insights into the series, which make the first three episodes all the more fun to watch.
Welcome to Ellora
Avatar: Seven Havens takes place 225 years after the events of The Legend of Korra. In that time, the Avatar world has greatly changed, resembling a post-apocalyptic version of the setting audiences have been following since the original series. As such, Seven Havens takes place in Ellora, one of the titular havens from the harsh environment.
One major challenge for the Seven Havens team is designing the havens as both something familiar to longtime fans of the franchise and something new to represent the changing of the times.
"We're not in a natural world anymore," they stated, showcasing the environmental difference between Seven Havens and the far more naturalistic original series. This also allowed greater contrast between Ellora and its surroundings, such as Pavi's home, which they compared to Yoda on Dagobah from Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back.
The team described each of the seven havens as "seven different shows" in terms of designs before displaying some artwork of Ellora's landmarks and nearby locations. The team emphasized the intentionality behind every detail in Ellora's world, saying "everything has a purpose."
They gracefully tackled the challenge of balancing "loneliness and warmth," all to answer one question: How do people survive in these harsh conditions?
Meet Pavi, Nisha, and the new Seven Havens characters!
What good is a setting as cool as Ellora without any characters to populate it? After showcasing the major landmarks of Seven Havens, the team displayed some incredible concept art of the series' cast and shared some cool concept art of the characters.
Unlike previous Avatar series, Seven Havens features two Avatars, Pavi and Nisha. Pavi, described as a "beautiful little weirdo," feels more similar to Aang, the original Avatar protagonist. The designers made sure to steer into wacky expressions with Pavi, to encapsulate her naivete and sweetness.
In contrast, Nisha, the second Avatar of Seven Havens, is more aggressive and driven than Pavi. This opens comparisons to Korra, who is now a reviled figure worldwide (much to Varney's comedic dismay).
Next, the team showed off designs for Ruhi and Geet, the Avatars' cat monkeys. Based on Konietzko's cats, Sethi explained that they would often have the giant animals nap to give them something to do in frame without pulling focus.
The Seven Havens team also displayed concept art of Jae and the Bending Birgade, the Elloran council, and, of course, Karthik, voiced by Akshay Khanna, who they fully expect to become "the internet's new daddy." Karthik was intentionally designed to be hot, and Sethi even incorporated some jokes about his good looks into the series.
The origins of Seven Havens
According to the creative team, Seven Havens began "when Avatar Studios began." Seven Havens marks the first TV release of the Avatar-centric production company and the second release overall, after the animated film Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, which released over the summer.
According to the creators, some ideas from Seven Havens date back to the original Avatar: The Last Airbender series, showcasing just how inherent this new show's storytelling is to the universe itself.
Given how long the idea for Seven Havens has been floating around, it makes sense that so many Avatar franchise veterans would be involved in the new show. DiMartino, Konietzko, and Spaulding have all been involved in the franchise since its beginning. Additionally, Seven Havens art director William Niu previously worked as a background artist for The Legend of Korra, and composer Jeremy Zuckerman once again returns to the series. Despite the major changes Seven Havens has in store, these returning artists promise familiar franchise elements as well, further striking the balance between old and new.
Finally, the panel ended by teasing the future of the franchise. Not only did they confirm that Seven Havens has been renewed for four seasons, they also announced that the next Avatar series will be titled Avatar Kuruk: Waves of Chaos, set to focus on the teenage years of the titular water tribe Avatar.
Make sure to tune into Avatar: Seven Havens, with new episodes premiering on Paramount+ on Fridays.
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