Background and development In 2018,
Netflix announced that a
live-action remake of the original
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005–2008) was to start production in 2019. The series' original creators,
Michael Dante DiMartino and
Bryan Konietzko, were initially announced to be the executive producers and
showrunners. In June 2020, the creators departed the series due to creative differences. That same year,
Nickelodeon licensed the original
The Last Airbender as well as
The Legend of Korra (2012–14) to Netflix, which led to a boom in popularity for both series. This success convinced Nickelodeon to rekindle their relationship with Konietzko and DiMartino and explore further opportunities. In February 2021,
ViacomCBS announced during its annual Investor Day the formation of
Avatar Studios, a new division of Nickelodeon dedicated to the creation of projects based on animated television series
Avatar: The Last Airbender and
The Legend of Korra. The series creators and executive producers Konietzko and DiMartino would serve as co-chief creative officers. It was also announced that the first project of the studio is an animated theatrical film that would begin production later in 2021. Original series executive producer
Eric Coleman takes executive producer credit, with Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino, Latifa Ouaou, and Maryann Garger as the film's producers. In June 2022, it was announced that
Lauren Montgomery, who was a storyboard artist on the original series and a supervising producer for
Korra, would serve as director. In July 2022,
Janet Varney, the voice of
Korra, revealed that the plot of the film would revolve around the original series' characters. A sneak peek of the film was revealed at
Paramount Pictures'
CinemaCon presentation in April 2023, confirming that the film would follow the characters in their young adulthood. In April 2024, it was reported that William Mata would serve as co-director, alongside Montgomery. In April 2025, the title of the film was announced as
The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender. In March 2026, Montgomery revealed that production had wrapped and the final cut of the film had been screened for the entire cast and crew. Posts from the screening by
Eric Nam and
Román Zaragoza revealed that the film had been retitled
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender.
Casting In May 2023,
Mae Whitman, the original voice actress for
Katara, confirmed that she will not be reprising the role. She remarked that despite cherishing her experience, Whitman was excited to see "actors come in, who honestly fit the role much better" as she expressed an interest to have an actress of color to succeed her. The following year at CinemaCon in April 2024, Paramount announced the casting of
Eric Nam as
Aang,
Dionne Quan as
Toph Beifong,
Jessica Matten as Katara,
Román Zaragoza as
Sokka, and
Dave Bautista as the antagonist. In March 2025,
Variety reported that
Steven Yeun, who had previously voiced Avatar Wan in
The Legend of Korra, joined the cast in an undisclosed role. He was later confirmed to be voicing
Zuko four months later, succeeding the character's original voice actor
Dante Basco. Later that December, more additional actors were announced to join the film, consisting of
Taika Waititi,
Geraldine Viswanathan,
Freida Pinto,
Ke Huy Quan,
Peta Sergeant, and
Dee Bradley Baker. Baker was revealed to be reprising his roles as Appa and Momo from the original series. According to the film's casting director, Jenny Jue, the decision to recast the principal characters was on behalf of DiMartino and Konietzko. This direction was influenced by the increased emphasis on matching voice actors' ethnic and racial backgrounds to those of the characters they portray, a topic that arose in the industry in the years since the conclusion of the original series. Jue said, "
ATLA is a fictional world, but there are cultural influences for each nation/kingdom, and we wanted to explore the talent from those groups".
Animation In October 2022, it was reported that
Flying Bark Productions in Sydney, Australia, would primarily provide the animation for the film. In May 2025, it was reported that
Studio Mir in Seoul, South Korea, which previously provided animation for
The Legend of Korra, would also provide additional animation support for the film. Alexia Gates-Foale, director of production for Flying Bark, said that working on the film will be "a dream project" for the studio due to multiple employees being fans of the franchise. The animation style used in the feature combines 2D
hand-drawn animated characters with 3D
computer-animated environments, courtesy of
Deep Canvas technology.
Deep Canvas and this hybrid style of animation production was pioneered at
Walt Disney Animation Studios (
CAPS), and had extensively been used in titles such as
Tarzan (1999) and
Treasure Planet (2002).
Music Jeremy Zuckerman, who composed for the animated series, was revealed to be serving as the film's composer in November 2025. Zuckerman said that he was granted full access to an orchestra, stating that the bigger budget for the film enables him to try new things he could not do on the television series due to technological limits at the time. == Release ==