Outsiders might be perplexed by the ongoing popularity of Avatar: The Last Airbender. The children’s animated show ran on Nickelodeon for three seasons in the mid-aughts, before it was punctuated by a disastrous live-action movie adaptation by M. Night Shyamalan. And that might have put an end to it, dooming the series to the ether where other nostalgic children’s shows go to perish. But over two decades later, the Avatar world is going strong, with a mostly acclaimed sequel series, renewed popularity for the original show thanks to lockdown, a pretty good live-action remake on Netflix, and a whole production company dedicated to expanding the world. But, for whatever reason, it seems like the much-anticipated movie sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, somewhat confusingly titled Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, feels like it’s cursed.
First, there was Paramount’s decision to move the film from its original theatrical release to a straight-to-streaming release on Paramount+. Then there was the infamous leak of the entire movie online, four months before it was due to premiere. As a result, Paramount pushed up its streaming release to July, and gave it a cursory limited theatrical run — though all these actions can’t help but seem like a slapdash way to save face on a PR catastrophe. Which is a shame, because Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is really, very good.
