Paramount recently revealed the title of the new Avatar animated feature, revealed to be The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbenderwith a confirmed release date of October 9, 2026. The new movie is supposed to be the first of an entire trilogy about the Avatar and his gang as they grow up and deal with the aftermath of the war. The film is being directed by Lauren Montgomery, who was involved with both Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. In addition to this film, there’s a ton of Avatar content scheduled to be released in the near future, but most fans are eagerly awaiting the new animated features. After all, the story began with an animated series about the Gaang, and we’ve spent years crying out for updates about the OG crew.
What We Hope to See in the New Avatar Films
Lauren Montgomery was a storyboard artist on Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korrain addition to serving as a supervising producer on the latter. In addition, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the original creators of the series, are also involved with the project, so expectations are running high, and fans are hyped to see the characters return.
One thing we do know about the film, however, is that the original voice actors are not returning, as the team wants to deliver a more accurate racial representation with the voice cast. Picking up the mantle from the original series are Eric Nam as Aang, Jessica Matten as Katara, Roman Zaragoza as Sokka, and Dionne Quan as Toph.
When it comes to the themes they’ll explore in this film and the rest of the trilogy, there are many ways the creators can go. Of course, they could introduce their own brand-spanking-new arc. But if they choose to stick to the comics, they’ll find a plethora of options and material for them. The ATLA comics follow the Gaang closely even after the show wraps up. We could, thus, see the film pick up right after the events of the show and follow the crew as they face a changing world where people look to them as leaders and guides. Basically, it could be something that fills in the gaps and tells us where the gang has been before the jump to Korra.
Zuko’s Journey
We would love to see each main character’s unique and individual journey to becoming a leader. Zuko, for example, deals with multiple personal and political conflicts right after the events of the show. One popular arc covered by the comics is him going in search of his mother, Ursa. In the show, Ursa’s fate was left nigh on unexplored. It has always loomed large in the background as a major mystery, quietly shaping Zuko’s character. His search for his mother and subsequent discovery of her tragic fate irrevocably mould Zuko into the kind of person and leader he goes on to become. Aside from this, there are also some political aspects of his narrative that the film could explore. After all, Zuko is a young teenage boy who ascended to the throne after overthrowing his tyrannical father. In the comics, Zuko, the newly appointed Firelord, faces a lot of backlash when he returns to the Fire Nation after finding Ursa. Mai’s father leads a rebellion against him. The film could explore how Zuko, with Iroh by his side, deals with the politics of the post-war world, even as he understands what kind of leader he is going to become.
Toph’s Journey
Another character whose narrative remains criminally underexplored in the show is Toph. By the time we meet her in Korra, Toph has led a full, colorful life. But what happened in the years before that? We know that she and her parents had a strained relationship. The films, like comics, could address these issues and have her return to her roots and confront her parents and her past. This could also be a great chance for Zuko and Toph to finally have their own mini adventure. Aside from her past, the film could also explore how Toph started the Metalbending Academy. In the comics, she clashed with Aang over their differences in opinion regarding modernity and tradition. The film could explore the growing rift between the two friends while also establishing how the era of tradition slowly gave way to an industrial revolution spearheaded by Toph herself.
The Imbalance
The Gaang may have won the war, but they inherited a fractured world. Entire communities would have been wiped out over the decades. Many would not have remembered a life before all the strife. It’s a dark world to live in, an even darker one to attempt to heal and rule. It would be interesting to see how our heroes deal with the aftermath of the war. The film could delve into the politics of the shifting leadership in each Nation and how the team deals with issues together and as individual leaders. It could also be a great chance to explore something that they merely hint at in the original show but explore more fully in The Imbalance trilogy, i.e., the rising tensions between benders and non-benders. The show was all about the war and the journey to defeat Ozai. The films could focus on the aftermath. The impact and implications of a century-long war. What becomes of our heroes when there is no more a war to be won? How does the healing begin, and balance get restored? How do warriors become leaders, and children become kings?
Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s new movies are in development.
