A live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series is coming to Netflix

Avatar: The Last Airbender is set to be reimagined as a live-action Netflix series with the original creators of the series at the helm.

Fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender can rejoice as Netflix has revealed they have plans to make a live-action version of the animated series.

Netflix has announced it will be creating a “reimagined” version of the series. This announcement also includes a piece of concept art from John Staub, showing Aang and his flying bison Appa. The concept art looks beautiful, and, if it is any indication of what’s to come, fans can at least be hopeful about the adaptation.

The series is a beloved of many fans, focusing on a fantasy world of “benders” who can manipulate the four elements — earth, air, fire, and water. The Avatar is the only being who can use all four. The series follows a young Avatar named Aang who, along with his friends, has to fight the Fire Nation and keep them from taking over the world.

Fans might be a little uneasy as the last live-action adaptation of the series was not a success. A film released in 2010, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, did poorly at the box office and was a disappointment as it strayed so far from the source material.

Luckily, this new attempt will include the original series creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. They will be showrunners and executive producers of this adaptation. This is promising as it means the show will likely stay truer to the original.

Production on the series is set to start in 2019.

Avatar: The Last Airbender ran on Nickelodeon and won several awards, including an Emmy, and the follow-up series The Legend of Korra was a hit as well. The world of Avatar has also been portrayed in many comics since these shows ended.

In a joint statement, Konietzko and DiMartino had this to say about the announcement:

"We can’t wait to realize Aang’s world as cinematically as we always imagined it to be, and with a culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed cast. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build upon everyone’s great work on the original animated series and go even deeper into the characters, story, action, and world-building. Netflix is wholly dedicated to manifesting our vision for this retelling, and we’re incredibly grateful to be partnering with them."

We are pretty excited to see how this show comes together and have hope that it will be well-done, diverse, and beautiful. Are you excited or do you think the show should be left alone?

(H/T Entertainment Weekly)