Christopher Chiu-Tabet: During February’s TCA conference, Nickelodeon announced the creation of Avatar Studios, a new division headed up by Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, which will produce new shows and films from the world they created. The new entries are intended for ViacomCBS’s newly rebranded streaming service Paramount+, as well as Nickelodeon, movie theaters, and other platforms.
There have been a lot of comic books set in the world of Avatar and Korra since the shows ended, so an expanded universe is hardly new territory for the series, but I had to ask our biggest fans how they felt about Paramount taking a page from Star Wars’ turn from a print EU, to a seemingly never ending deluge of movies and TV shows. As I understand, Korra is not as well regarded by fans as Avatar — are we in for a set of diminishing returns?
Mark Tweedale: That’s always a possibility, but I don’t think so. I love The Legend of Korra, but it has its flaws. Curiously, many of its flaws stem from the way it was treated by Nickelodeon. The creators had to fight with the studio so many times. I mean, Nickelodeon even tried to turn Korra into a boy. At the eleventh hour, they cut an entire episode’s budget from season four. The Legend of Korra was great, but it was a series with its wings clipped.
And the thing is, all the other spinoffs — the comics from Dark Horse, and the Kyoshi novels from Amulet Books — have been fantastic. The fanbase for Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra has grown at least tenfold since the shows originally aired, with a major spike in interest when it came to the US version of Netflix, so now Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino (Bryke) are heading Avatar Studios with some serious clout at their disposal. Hopefully, it’s so much clout that Bryke’s contracts allow them to side-step the sort of upper management studio meddling that hurt Korra. I’ve no real reason to believe that with DiMartino and Konietzko in charge the Avatar Universe will diminish.
Paul Lai: I agree with Mark that the expansions of the narrative world in those other properties show that the Avatar mythos has rich and robust possibilities for expansion. But it’s a valid question, Christopher, whether the same spark will be there in these new stories. Maybe this is a cop out to brace myself for disappointment, but I don’t think I expect these Avatar Studios follow-ups to universally appeal the way the original Avatar: The Last Airbender did and still does, as we saw last summer.
I can’t judge The Legend of Korra as better or worse than ATLA, but I certainly feel like it’s more mature, which was perfect for the younger fans of Aang’s stories to graduate into those few years later. I’d welcome it if what we get from Avatar Studios, like the streaming series from Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, might be more range-y. . . and that could be a great thing. I’m not saying we’re going to get R-rated Avatar, but I like the idea that we can worm into more particular kinds of stories and corners of the universe, rather than just the one-size-fits-all broad appeal of the original ATLA. What do you think?
Chris: I’m pleasantly surprised you’re so positive. I suppose I was worried after the racist trashfire that was the live-action film and the fallout between Netflix and Bryke over their upcoming remake. (At least there’s the potential silver lining of an Asian showrunner getting to tell this story now.) I also wonder how many stories you can tell from the Avatar universe after the elemental superpowers become tiresome, just as Star Wars is able to tell to keep things fresh and tell a varied array of stories without the Jedi. (I guess there’s the Kyoshi Warriors, the pre-bending era, and the cabbage merchant.) What stories would you like to see told on screen?
Paul: Haha, Chris, now you have me hoping there’s a five episode anime-style My Cabbages! mini-series.
Continued belowMore seriously, I think F.C. Yee’s Rise of Kiyoshi novel series has added some great lore, and the Dark Horse comics have achieved some fascinating fleshing out of the time between ATLA and LOK (thanks to Gene Luen Yang, Gurihiru, Faith Erin Hicks, Peter Wartman). But I wouldn’t be as interested in direct adaptations of these expanded universe stories, so much as interweaving and reintroducing the best new elements those works introduced.
Mark: Personally, I hope they leave the comics and novels alone. I wouldn’t mind flashbacks to events in the comics and novels, but I’d never want to see direct adaptations of whole stories to animation. I’d rather they co-exist alongside the new streaming series and films.
Chris: Would you hold it against Bryke if they adapted the stories of the comics for TV, given Paramount+ needs Content™?
Mark: I don’t see the Avatar world as lacking material for stories, so a retread just seems to be the least interesting thing they could possibly do. I wouldn’t think it was bad per se, more like. . . boring.
As for where they could take these new series. . . everywhere! It’s an entire world after all. Obviously there’s more they could explore with Korra and Aang, but it’s open enough to explore any Avatar at any time. Wan, the first Avatar, would obviously be fantastic, especially since the world then was so very different from the one we know in ATLA and LOK. I’d love to see a story about Avatar Kuruk, who didn’t have some major world conflict in his lifetime, but instead a very personal one with Koh the Face Stealer.
But there’s more to the Avatar world than just avatars — much like Star Wars doesn’t have to be about Jedi — and I’d love to see what else this world has to offer. I’ve seen a glimpse of this already in the comics where new characters were introduced that have since become core to my experience of this world, even though they’ve never appeared in the animated series. I do not want to imagine Avatar: The Last Airbender without Kiyi, for example. And even in the animated series, they had entire episodes about just Zuko, or just Appa, and those episodes not only hold up, but they’re among the best.
Even just culturally, there are parts of the world I want to see more of. We’ve barely seen the Air Nomads, and I’d love to see their culture in its heyday. In the comics, Kya spoke about how they were accepting and embraced everyone, no matter their orientation, something we don’t really see as much in ATLA and LOK after Fire Lord Sozin wiped out the Air Nomads and decreed that same-sex relationships were criminal. Considering how much Korra and Asami’s relationship meant to fans, but how restricted the show’s creators were in depicting it, I’d love for them to have a series where this aspect of the world can be expressed fully.
Paul: The ideas you mentioned above sound really fun, Mark! The Avatar’s obviously a compelling role, but within the world of the stories told, the Fire Nation’s devolution into a superpower and then the (can we say?) post-colonial era of Fire Nation seems a history replete with story possibilities. These can do what I love best about Avatar — clothing powerful sociopolitical relevance in intriguing and accessible characters.
Same with the Air Nomads, as well as the Water Tribes, whose circumstances between the start of ATLA and the end of LOK present canvases of histories that you could paint really compelling stories onto. Maybe Chloe Zhao could direct. (Kidding.)
Mark: (Thank god. As an animator it always makes my eye twitch when people suggest live-action directors do animation. . . )
Paul: I admit, much as I love the BeiFongs, I think we got plenty of Earth Kingdom in the original series and extended stories, so I’m pretty topped off on those for now.
Speaking of the extended stories, Mark, I’d also be disappointed in direct adaptations of the comics or novels into animated shows, but I fully expect Avatar Studios to take notes from the success of The Mandalorian and WandaVision, populating these shows with references to the comics and novels that won’t be required for audiences but will please the rabid fanbase.
Continued belowMark: Oh yeah, that’d totally be the best of both worlds. That connective tissue is such a huge part of what makes The Mandalorian so much fun.
Paul: I found the evolution of the visual style between ATLA and LOK, in terms of world design, in terms of character and costume, in terms of how the metaphysical elements are set against the natural or built environments, totally fascinating. The various artists we’ve had on the comics, including Gurihiru, Peter Wartman, Irene Koh, and Michelle Wong, not to mention the wide-ranging cast of styles we’ve seen in anthologies like “Team Avatar Tales”. . . these all point to the incredible possibilities of applying different animation aesthetics to the universe, and I’m here for it.
Mark: Not to mention the double-episode Avatar Wan sequence in The Legend of Korra. That was one of the most sumptuously animated episodes in the series.
Paul: I also think diversifying the animation styles for different entrants into the Avatar Studios series would be a complementary statement to including POC and particularly Asian-heritage showrunners and writers. One of the mind-blowing things about the original show, which was pretty unfathomable to me at the time, was that it so clearly took inspiration from and honored both Asian and Western cartooning influences. It did this in ways we almost take for granted now, to the point that it’s practically an archaism to talk about “Asian and Western cartooning” as separate things.
But given the enormously influential role of Avatar: The Last Airbender on presenting those dynamically mixed styles to English-speaking audiences, these new series present opportunities to push that envelope even more. I’m definitely talking out of my expertise here, but I do talk to young people every day whose sensibilities are deeply shaped by consuming vast quantities of anime or watching Pixar movies on repeat, and it strikes me that diverse and experimental visual styles are the norm and no longer the quirky exception for side projects like The Animatrix. (Wow, I feel old after writing that paragraph.)
Chris: Let’s not forget the many Native American/First Nations writers and artists who would love to make their own mark on the universe, given the Inuit influence on the Water Tribe characters — Molly of Denali can’t be the only cartoon they make in their own image!
Likewise, the world can hopefully be opened up even further with new countries that reflect those like West and South Asians, Africans, Aboriginal Australians, and even pre-Christian European cultures like the Celts, Slavs, or Sami — it’d be an inclusive touch given how Asians and indigenous peoples can be Black, mixed race, or pass for white.
Speaking of Asian writers telling their own stories in the world, how would we feel if a series about the next Avatar (who, for the record, would be from the Earth Kingdom), was set in a world resembling contemporary China, Korea, and Japan? Korra took the world into the early 20th century, and that’d be the most distinctive new element you could bring to its third act (so to speak) — but are we ready for an Avatar that resembles Ghost in the Shell?
Or, what about an Avatar cartoon that goes post-apocalyptic? Fist of the North Star, but y’know, for kids?
As for the level of technology, the show has already pushed pretty far into roughly 20th century–like technology. If they want to push things in a different direction, a post-apocalyptic story could be a way to reset technology to a point. The thing is, this would mean an Avatar had failed, so it could be quite a downer of a tale. Perhaps this could be the result of Vaatu growing within Raava? This could be a way to take the series into the far future without going into heavily futuristic tech. It would also give an Avatar a challenge we haven’t seen before, where the biggest threat to the world could potentially be the Avatar themself if left unchecked.
Paul: Chris, you’ve really got me thinking about your question about pushing Avatar into the fictional futures and also inclusion of diverse Asian and indigenous peoples with stakes in this story. And Mark, your reference to that Jeanette Ng critique of Korra’s problems of perspective and appropriation is really making me think as well. We’re almost twenty years past the original show and a decade after the travesty of the Shyamalan movie. In my excitement about the announcement, I hadn’t fully taken in the potential import (or disappointment) in terms of how these stories imagine histories and futures that challenge hegemonic hypercapitalism or represent anticolonial or decolonizing subjects.
Chris: That Ng article is a fantastic read, thanks for sharing — it’s a great reminder of how oversight from an Asian creator would improve the saga’s worldbuilding. I would argue the Fire Nation brought industrialization to the world, so the European architectural influence wasn’t such a stretch, but I perfectly understand.
A belated thought about adapting the comics — if the Netflix series finishes covering the story the original series did, it could begin adapting them. (That’s a big if, naturally.)
Mark: I think doing a direct adaptation probably wouldn’t serve them well. After all, the Avatar: The Last Airbender ends with such a huge crescendo, and then the comics are so much quieter by comparison. That said, they could fold some of that material into the big plot. There’s no reason why the live-action series couldn’t draw its story ideas from the entire universe. It could be a way for it to do things the original animated series could never do and be something really unique rather than just a live-action version of something we’ve seen before.
Paul: That would be cool to see, Mark. Your suggestions about (not) adapting, animated series, and live action options has got me curious: what kinds of decisions do you imagine Konietzko, DiMartino, and their team are facing right now?
I keep thinking, again, about The Mandalorian and WandaVision, and whether the Avatar Studios creators would look at those as any kind of bellwether of what audiences are hungry for? Or are better examples of the road they’re charting now found elsewhere? I suppose even if Avatar Studios borrows a playbook from other creative worlds, the Paramount+ people will have those series’ success as a measuring stick, for better or (probably) worse.
Nonetheless, I’m only a moderately attentive Star Wars consumer and I’m slightly more engaged in the MCU, but anecdotally I can’t help but notice how much those two initial entrees have people I know and the online fandom I can see really engrossed in their respective universes.
It’s maybe an accident of COVID that the Disney+ MCU started with the weird and Easter egg-laden WandaVision over the action-heavy The Falcon and Winter Soldier, but it’s sort of worked out, hasn’t it? [Yes, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was originally intended to premiere in August 2020 — Chris.]
The point being, I wonder if the viewership generated by Westview, along with the extensive and off-beat lore of Mandalore, might clear some headway for executives and accountants to let Avatar Studios start off with stories off the beaten track. An Avatar series with no Avatars, maybe? Not as risky a first venture as we would have thought two years ago, perhaps?
Chris: Cabbage Corp: The Cabbage Merchant’s Story.
Mark: Or a story focusing on a younger Iroh and his first journey into the Spirit World and joining the Order of the White Lotus.
Continued belowChris: I gotta say guys, your thoughts have made a lot more optimistic about the prospects of Avatar becoming Viacom’s next Star Trek. I do think it’s bittersweet we’ll likely never see Konietzko’s First Second series “Threadworlds” now, but I hope it all works out for the best, for everyone.
Yip yip!
