"Avatar: The Last Airbender" received mixed responses from viewers, but that didn't stop the show from generating tens of millions of views since it was released. With its success, Netflix has finally announced the show's renewal.
'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Seasons 2 and 3
With the success of the first season, expectations were high for the streaming giant to renew the live-action adaptation. So when the show's renewal was announced, not many were surprised by it. The thing that stunned the fandom though was the show's renewal for two more seasons and not just one.
During a recent conference call, the actor playing Fire Lord Ozai, Daniel Dae Kim, was tasked with delivering the news to the rest of the cast. The meeting was attended by Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley, Dallas Liu, Paul Sn-Hyung Lee and Elizabeth Yu.
At first, Kim spoke in a tone like he was about to announce bad news.
"They are not able to announce a season 2 for our show," he said somberly.
The cast was visibly sad about the news, which was understandable.
But Kim immediately followed it up with the actual news.
"They're not able to announce a season 2 because they would like to announce season 2 and 3, being renewed."
The cast immediately cheered and felt relief.
AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER is renewed for Seasons 2 & 3… and here's how we told the cast. pic.twitter.com/PjsEvFooON
— Avatar: The Last Airbender (@AvatarNetflix) March 6, 2024
It has only been two weeks since the release of the live-action "Avatar: The Last Airbender," but the series already topped the service for being the English-language TV show that amassed over 41 million views in just 11 days.
It was the top show in 76 countries and was within the top 10 most-watched in 92 countries. This record was achieved even though many fans of the animated series voiced disapproval over the storyline changes and the casting.
However, the actors themselves were happy about the changes, with Kim saying that it was "really clever of the writers to end Season 1 in that way because you want to get a sense that the universe of the show is expanding with every season," as per Netflix's blog post.
Lee, who plays Uncle Iroh, said, "I just had chills seeing Lizzy as Azula. You've got King Bumi in shackles, and it's just like, 'Oh, there's so many cliffhangers.' I was like, 'Oh, I want to shoot Season 2, 3 right now.'"
What We Can Expect
Even though some of the Season 2 characters have already been introduced in the first one, we still have a lot of new characters to expect for the second and third seasons. After all, the gang is still not complete and we are yet to meet Toph Beifong.
The showrunners will likely follow the core narrative of the animated series, even if they plan to make some changes in certain events. Since Sozin's comet has already been acknowledged at the end of the first season, fans can expect a certain level of urgency in the coming seasons.
For now, all that's left is to wait for the news about when production will begin and who will portray the new characters to be introduced on the show. It's good enough to know that Netflix will be committed to following the entire series through.
