Image: Netflix
Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender adaptation will get a full three-season run.
Netflix has renewed its live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series for Seasons 2 and 3 - a double-whammy for fans uncertain of the series’ fate. The three-season run promises to fully adapt the events of the original series - with only Book 2: Earth and Book 3: Fire remaining - and thus conclude the show. Netflix is clearly confident in the series’ success despite its mixed reactions, with the show having hit 41.1 million views in just 11 days.
The episode counts for Seasons 2 and 3 have not been confirmed as of yet, but it will undoubtedly be a challenge to squeeze the original series’ remaining 41 episodes into two eight-episode seasons.
Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender to conclude in Season 3
Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender topped streaming charts in the first 11 days of its release, becoming the #1 English TV show globally with 41.1 million views. The series also hit #1 in 76 countries and entered the Top 10 in 92, making it a bona fide hit for the streamer. A double-season renewal is rare for Netflix, but it looks like the company is confident enough in the series’ continued success that it’s willing to let it run all the way to the finish line.
The live-action series will follow the original animated series by running for three seasons in total, though an exact episode count for the former is yet to be confirmed. Netflix also shared a video with Daniel Dae Kim, who plays Fire Lord Ozai, informing the cast of their two-season renewal (after faking them out with a fake cancellation):
Season 1 of The Last Airbender fully adapted the events of Book 1: Water, though it did make arguably one too many cuts from the source material to fit its tight eight-episode run. The core premise will remain the same in Season 2: four nations built on the foundations of the elements - water, earth, fire and air - have been embroiled in war following an invasion from the Fire Nation. The Avatar, who has been missing for the past 100 years, suddenly returns to a radically changed world and strives to end the ongoing conflict.
It’s unclear how faithful Season 2 will be to Book 2: Earth, but it will almost certainly introduce the final member of Avatar Aang’s colourful group of friends: the earthbender Toph Bei Fong. Albert Kim will return as showrunner for the rest of the series’ tenure at Netflix, though it’s unclear how soon it will return to production. Those kids are growing up fast, so the clock’s ticking.