Avatar: The Last Airbender showrunner unexpectedly leaves ahead of season 2
Albert Kim stepped in as showrunner on Avatar: The Last Airbender after the creators of the original animated series left over creative differences. Now he's leaving too.
By Dan Selcke
The Netflix show Avatar: The Last Airbender is a live-action remake of the beloved animated Nickelodeon show of the same name. Originally, the guys behind the animated series — Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko — were going to oversee production of the remake. But they left in 2020 because they "couldn’t control the creative direction of the series.” Netflix brought in Albert Kim, who had worked on TV shows like Sleepy Hollow and Leverage, to replace them. He took the first season of the show across the finish line.
Avatar: The Last Airbender season 1 received mixed reviews from critics — we had some issues with it — but it was a hit with audiences, who watched it in numbers big enough for Netflix to renew the show for two more seasons not long after the first dropped. The original animated series ran for three seasons, so we can expect that the remake will tell the whole story.
But Kim will no longer be a part of it. The Hollywood Reporter has it that he has left the show to go work for Disney as an executive producer on Percy Jackson and the Olympians. In his place, the second and third seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender will be overseen by Christine Boylan and Jabbar Raisani, both of whom were hired by Kim to work on the first season.
Why did Albert Kim leave as showrunner on Avatar: The Last Airbender?
According to sources at THR, this isn't a situation where Kim was fired over some scandal or where Netflix replaced him after being dissatisfied with his work; like I said, the show was a hit, so Netflix seems satisfied on that score. Apparently it was always Kim's intention to step in after DiMartino and Konietzko left so he could lay the groundwork for the series. Given how long it takes to make a season of a big, complicated show like this, Kim was reportedly ready to move on.
It'll be a while before we see if his replacements can match (or, dare we hope, exceed) Kim's work. Before joining Avatar: The Last Airbender, producer and playwright Christine Boylan worked on shows like Castle, Once Upon a Time, The Punisher, Poker Face and Citadel, so she's got a decent amount of TV experience under her belt. As for Jabbar Raisani, he worked in special effects on shows like Game of Thrones and Stranger Things before directing the third and fourth episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
So although you might interpret Kim's exodus as evidence of chaos behind the scenes, it sounds like Netflix has things under control. But again, it'll be a while before we find out if this reshuffling paid off. I wouldn't expect a new season of Avatar: The Last Airbender before 2026.
Next. all 8 episodes of atla ranked. All 8 episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender ranked from worst to best. dark
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.