Avatar: The Last Airbender release date, cast, trailer and all you need to know

30 January 2024 , 13:28

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The series follows Aang on his quest as the next Avatar (Image: Netflix)

Netflix is gearing up to launch a brand-new adventure series based on a hugely popular and award-winning animated series. Launching later this year, Avatar: The Last Airbender takes viewers to a fantasy world where some people can telekinetically ‘bend’ one of the four elements, fire, water, earth or air.

It is a live-action adaptation of the hit Nickelodeon animated series of the same name and takes place in a world divided into four nations, the Air Nomads, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Water Tribes. The series follows 12-year-old Aang – the young Avatar – as he learns to master the four elements to restore balance to a world threatened by the terrifying Fire Nation.

The Last Airbender is inspired by a blend of Asian cultures, with each of the four elemental nations drawing from the history of countries including China, Japan and Tibet. The original animated series proved a huge hit since its launch in 2005 and is regarded by many as one of the best animated series of all time – it currently boasts a perfect 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Over just three seasons, the series picked up a host of awards including Annies – awards dedicated to animations – and an Emmy. It spawned a multimedia franchise that includes a 2010 live-action film, comic books and a sequel series.

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Here, we break down everything you need to know about Avatar: The Last Airbender.

What is Avatar: The Last Airbender about?

The four nations of Water, Earth, Fire and Air once lived in harmony, with the Avatar – master of all four elements – keeping peace between them. But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked and wiped out the Air Nomads, the first step taken by the firebenders towards conquering the world.

Gordon Cormier as Aang, the last airbender

With the current incarnation of the Avatar yet to emerge, the world has lost hope. But hope springs forth when Aang, a young Air Nomad and the last of his kind reawakens to take his rightful place as the next Avatar. Alongside newfound friends, siblings and members of the Southern Water Tribe, Aang embarks on a fantastical, action-packed quest to save the world and fight back against the fearsome onslaught of Fire Lord Ozai.

When Avatar: The Last Airbender is released

Avatar: The Last Airbender will premiere in the UK on Thursday, February 22. All eight episodes will drop on the same day.

Daniel Dae Kim as the show's main villain, Fire Lord Ozai

How to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender in the UK

Avatar: The Last Airbender will be available to stream exclusively on Netflix, which is currently available for free in Virgin Media’s winter sale alongside a whopping £270 saving. With Virgin’s packed Mega Volt bundle, members can enjoy more than 230 TV channels – including Sky Cinema and Sky Sports – plus Netflix, a 5G O2 sim and superfast fibre broadband with up to 516Mbps download speed.

Mega Volt members can even claim Disney+ or Amazon Prime free for six months and enjoy loads of new shows and films such as Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Saltburn and Donald Glover’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith series. The Mega Volt bundle has been cut by £15 every month down to £70 and there’s no setup fee. But shoppers only have days to get this deal before it expires on February 7.

Sky also has an awesome new broadband deal on its Sky Stream, Netflix, and Superfast Broadband bundle. Customers can get the package for £39 a month, or upgrade to Sky’s Full Fibre 100Mb/s broadband for £1.

Who is in the cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender?

Avatar: The Last Airbender is led by 14-year-old Canadian actor Gordon Cormier as Aang, the titular Avatar who is master of all four elements and the keeper of balance and peace. The youngster previously starred as Joe in the 2020 adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand and appeared in Netflix’s Lost in Space.

Ian Ousley as Sokka, Kiawentiio as Katara and Gordon Cormier as Aang

He stars alongside Anne with an E’s Kiawentiio as Katara – the last waterbender in her village and a friend to Aaang – and 13 Reasons Why’s Ian Ousley as her older brother Sokka. Shang-Chi star Dallas Liu plays the villainous Crown Prince Zuko, an exiled firebender obsessed with capturing the Avatar in order to reclaim his life and please his father, the Fire Lord.

Fire Lord Ozai – the show’s main antagonist – is played by Daniel Dae Kim, who had main roles in Lost and the Hawaii Five-0 reboot series. Also starring is The Mandalorian’s Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as retired Fire Nation general Iroh, Cobra Kai’s Tamlyn Tomita as Yukari, mayor of a village in the Earth Kingdom and Community’s Danny Pudi as The Mechanist, an eccentric inventor and engineer.

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Star Trek’s George Takei reprises his role from the animated series as Koh, an ancient and predatory spirit from the Spirit World. Writer-producer Albert Kim – whose credits include Sleepy Hollow and Nikita – serves as showrunner.