The first season of Netflix's live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender was met with mixed reception, but popular enough to warrant a second and third season. These next two seasons will conclude Netflix's re-telling of the hit anime series and like the first season, there's a lot of ground to cover. As a result, fans can expect some storyline "condensing."
Speaking to The Direct at Paleyfest 2024, Avatar: The Last Airbender Seasons 2 and 3 executive producer Jabbar Raisani acknowledged that they just don't have the episode bandwidth to adapt every major storyline and plot detail. So, unfortunately, some "condensing," will happen. Here's what he had to say about their plan for the upcoming seasons:
"I think it's a lot like season 1. There's a lot of content in the animated series. And we will be looking at all that content. But we don't have the number of episodes that we have in the animated series. So, certainly, there will be some condensing that has to take place."
Season 1 of Avatar: The Last Airbender was a solid entry point to the beloved franchise, but some fans took issue with the studio condensing some of the original material. The reality is that with just eight, hour-long episodes, there wasn't enough time to cover everything. The live-action series isn't quite following the anime storyline to a tee, so some storylines will likely be further adapted.
Based on the popular animated fantasy action television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio, Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in a fictional fantasy world where human civilization is divided into four nations based on the four classical elements: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. In each nation, some people known as "benders" can telekinetically manipulate one of the four elements. Aang, however, is the titular Avatar, which means he's the only one capable of mastering all four. The official synopsis from Netflix reads:
Avatar: The Last Airbender follows Aang (Gordon Cormier), a young boy who’s the titular Avatar, which means he’s the only one capable of mastering all four elements (air, water, fire, and earth). In Season 1, Aang wakes up after a 100-year slumber to discover he’s the only surviving Airbender. The world is being threatened by the imperialistic Fire Nation, which wiped out every other airbender and is working to subjugate the Earth and Water Nations. With the help of his newfound friends Katara (Kiawentiio), a waterbender, and her brother Sokka (Ian Ousley), Aang sets off on a journey to restore balance to this fractured world.
While the original anime series concluded in 2008, Aang's adventures will continue thanks to a new animated film called Aang: The Last Airbender. We don't know anything official about the upcoming film, but rumors claim it will be set between the events of the Avatar: The Last Airbender finale and its sequel series, The Legend of Kora. It will reportedly follow Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko as young adults.
Raisani was asked if the story of the upcoming film will have any influence on future episodes of Netflix's live-action series, to which he confirmed: "No, not at this point."
"We are really looking at the animated series at what came before and less of sort of what they're currently doing on the new movies," he said.