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Netflix has launched the first trailer for its live-action remake of the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which will arrive on the service in February 22, 2024. The first series will consists of eight hour-long episodes retelling the story of Aang's attempts to bring peace to a world divided into four elemental nations in the wake of an attack by the Fire nation.
Netflix first ordered the series five years ago, so fans might have been forgiven for wondering if it was ever coming, but it's now just months away. Of course, there's a lot of apprehension about a live-action Avatar after the widely derided 2010 movie, but the vibe check from the internet on this trailer is pretty good so far.
Comments on the YouTube trailer range from the outright enthusiastic "Honestly I can't tell you how excited I am for this! They've really nailed it!" to the slightly more analytical and detail-oriented "This actually looks promising! The visuals are stunning, the outfits look accurate, the bending seems accurate too, and Zuko has his ponytail!!"; but they're pretty much all either on-board or cautiously optimistic.
Of course, Netflix now has precedent for making a live-action adaption of a beloved animated show that pleased people. One Piece has been a huge hit that fans of the original really got into… even the rapidly forgotten Cowboy Bebop actually showed most adaptations how it should be done.
Having said that, One Piece had the advantage of the creator being deeply involved, whereas Avatar's creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, split away from this project, with DiMartino saying in an open letter that "whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make". The pair are instead working on a new movie that will continue the story of original show, which is set to release in 2025.
We'll find out in February whether this version of Avatar can stand among the best Netflix shows, but it at least looks like it's got the right ingredients to make fans happy.