The universe of Avatar: The Last Airbender is expanding again. For a while now, original series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino have been working on a series of animated projects. The first will be an animated film that catches up with the heroes of the show years after the ending. Today at CinemaCon, the new title was revealed: The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender.
The original show follows Aang as he comes to accept his responsibility as the Avatar, the only person in this fantasy world who can wield all four elements: air, earth, fire and water. By the end, Aang and his friends have helped defeat the tyrannical Fire Nation, and all while Aang is a young teenager of about 13 or 14. What happens after that?
That's what The Legend of Aang will explore. We do actually have some insight into Aang's future thanks to the sequel series The Legend of Korra, which is set after Aang's death at the age of 66. During his adult life, Aang helped establish Republic City, where members of all four nations comingle. Technology advanced under his tenure as Avatar, with the world going through something of an industrial revolution.
We don't know exactly when the movie will be set. Will it focus on young Aang as he considers his next steps, or perhaps depict him and his friends as full-grown adults managing Republic City? There isn't a release date for the movie either. We'll keep a lookout for details.
Disney shows off new footage from Avatar: Fire and Ash (but not for you)
For years now, Avatar: The Last Airbender has been mixed up with the Avatar movie franchise from director James Cameron. While The Last Airbender franchise is set in a fantasy world inspired by Asian cultures, the Avatar movies are set on a distant moon and revolve around a tribe of native blue aliens. The elemental theming is a constant, though. So far in the Avatar movies, we've met a tribe of Na'vi who live high in the mountains and ride winged creatures through the air and a seaside tribe who feature prominently in Avatar: The Way of Water. And in the next movie we'll meet a fire-themed tribe called the Ash People. Can Cameron fit in an earth-based people before the movies are done?
There will be five movies in all, so there'll be time. Disney actually showed off some footage from Avatar: Fire and Ash at CinemaCon, but they haven't released it for the wider public yet. According to IndieWire, a member of the Ash tribe, an aggressive people who kind of recall the Fire Nation from The Last Airbender, gets confrontational with our heroes.
Avatar: Fire & Ash will come out in theaters on December 19 of this year.
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