The Avatar universe is expanding. Variety reports that beloved children’s network Nickelodeon is launching a newly formed division, Avatar Studios, dedicated to creating content around Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra Original series creators and executive producers Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who left Netflix live action Avatar: The Last Airbender remake due to creative disagreements, will lead the division as co-chief creative officer under Ramsey Naito, president of Nickelodeon Animation. Avatar Studios content will appear on Paramount +, Nickelodeon’s linear and digital platforms, as well as third-party and theater platforms.
Avatar: The Last Airbender and Once have grown at least tenfold in popularity since their original hit spinning on Nickelodeon, and Ramsey Naito and I are incredibly excited to have Mike and Bryan’s genius on board to run a studio dedicated to expanding their characters and world to new content and formats for fans everywhere, ”said Brian Robbins, president of ViacomCBS Kids & Family. Creator-driven stories and characters have long been the hallmark of Nickelodeon, and Avatar Studios is a way to empower Mike and Bryan with the resources and runway to open up their imaginations even more and deeper into the action and mythology of Avatar while simultaneously expanding that world and the world of content available on Paramount + and Nickelodeon. “
The first project under Avatar Studios is an original animated theatrical film that will begin production this year. For the uninitiated, Avatar: The Last Air Bender ran for three seasons on Nickelodeon from February 2005 to July 2008 and won a Peabody and Primetime Emmy Award. The series was adapted into a much-maligned M. Night Shyamalan movie, a successful graphic novel, and had its own live-action remake on Netflix. The Legend of Korra takes place 70 years later in the Avatar world The Last Air Bender, debuted in 2012 and ran for four seasons on Nickelodeon. I hope James Cameron doesn’t get ideas for his own Avatar Studios.